398
fully there, solid,
alert, his gaze direct and ready to meet
with full attention
the attention of anyone looking at him here
as of -- right now:
it is an expression that doesn't yield anything.
the departures from white river
eastward
Eastward goes, by wagon
jolting over Yellowjacket Pass
and along Milk Creek, and winding
into the uplands to cross
the sage fl ats to Rawlins, then by train
over the high plains,
the smashed self
Nathan Meeker;
through the huge
matter-of-fact silence
of that country,
and no crowds
awaiting him along the way,
borne eastward home
or what will have to do
uninterestingly
for home, Greeley
and an offi
cial tombstone.
westward
Said the lieutenant,
The next morning,
shortly after sunrise,