Nebraska

1981,
&  for three days in Nebraska
penny loafers are the talk, the thirties sensation
all over again in one-light towns.
Three days in Nebraska,
&  a hundred calves come out bloody & new
as Wahoo &  Alma &  Dunning hum

&  glow, turned liked searchlights into
Colorado, where everyone’s already wearing
their lucky shoes.
It takes just one look at a boy from Ansley—
there is love &  there is money
&  there is everything in between,
touched by both—
one look at the packs approaching the drag
in Imperial,
as first &  second boy say hey & hey to third
&  fourth—

Three days in Nebraska,
&  the bigger
the sentiment, the harder it falls, &  all over
the dreams of the pretty
end somewhere in New York City,
but just this one time,
just these three days
in Nebraska, the boys are clicking their boots
&  singing
I wish I was here in Nebraska