Shepherd Circle

From vagabond to prince and back again

[Shepherd Circle @ShepherdCircle]

W/ locks of fall husks, she shot a glance the shade of spring brush. Her friend, a mane of cottonwood bark, saw through eyes like skies behind a meadowlark. College T's thinly veiled pert AA's. Soon I traced the contours of a bony rib cage; incisors flossed w/ threads of ginger.

[Shepherd Circle @ShepherdCircle]

Like a vassal to the higher ups, not the president or governor, something much more corrupt. An empty title and an empty suit, you're a middleman in others' pursuits. You take all the blame, but you still have no say. Congratulations, Mr. Mayor, you're the new corporate slave.

[Shepherd Circle @ShepherdCircle]

Saw the sunset today; the same sunset as yesterday; same as the day before; same as even decades more. It was the sunset Adam saw; the sunset of the dinosaurs' fall. Anywhere on Earth, a replay of the night's birth, persisting long beyond any name, forgotten or forsaken.

[Shepherd Circle @ShepherdCircle]

She used me, neglected me, led me on. Just one time, I did her wrong. She was showing when I flew. I knew it wasn't mine. Out west, I built myself a life

Her gray hair blew as she arrived; a teenager at her side; spread the lie I was the father, sent my reputation to the gutter

[Shepherd Circle @ShepherdCircle]

All around me, the scent of chili and beans, lowriders and El Caminos blast accordion overtures. Kids on the street speak like conquistadors, conquering all with weed and soccer balls. I'm not sure when the border crossed the Platte. But unlike the Rubicon, they must turn back.

[Shepherd Circle @ShepherdCircle]

A man in an eyepatch sips coffee at a coffeeshop, claims he drove a car in the Carhenge art.

Someone shows a pic for him to ID. "I can't see," he groans, "I'm blind since puberty."

As I go to leave, he gives a wink, "Better bundle up boy. It's colder than a convertible twink."

[Shepherd Circle @ShepherdCircle]

At a record store, in line, a teen carries a Wallflowers vinyl. I clutch Michael Murphey's "Wildfire"

"'Invisible City' is much like yours," the teen asserts, "another husker girl chasing down a horse."

Before I reply, a hit debuts on a nearby phone: "Yoü & I" by Jo Calderone

[Shepherd Circle @ShepherdCircle]

I wrote a poem called "O'Sullivan's Folly." It captured the ethos of Manifest Destiny. Perishing in the Great MySpace Purge, it left me searching my memory like a lost Lakota recalling a dirge.

[Shepherd Circle @ShepherdCircle]

For a time, I had but one friend. He seemed so gentle, so kind. He greeted me quite graciously. It made me feel sublime. I can picture him now in my mind: a smile a mile wide, hair dark as night, a shirt transparently white. Often I wonder where he's gone. O how I miss my Tom!

[Shepherd Circle @ShepherdCircle]

Seventeen years ago, I drifted aimlessly like a cyclone, then I reached an uncloudy day, I set my sights and found a way. Yet, a new storm stirs today. I am lost like before. But now I am just a dust devil and my legs are growing sore.