Two Poems by J.B. Hogan

 

Falling Back

Down any road, back country or town,

grass pushes at concrete,

trees form lush canopies,

taking back what had been

surrendered unwillingly,

reverting, decaying, letting go

order, structure, seeking

primal existence, wild,

unbound, untamed,

before thought or reason,

before plan or hope,

before vision or design.

Nairobi to Amboseli

Down Highway 104, narrow blacktop road,

Nairobi to Mombasa through

semi-arid land of grazing animals,

tribal herdsmen tending cattle

one, tall, thin Masai cow tender

jogging toward the road from far afield

playful, aggressive, spear launched

at passive vehicle, laughing

waiving, scaring up a dik-dik

hiding in the bush.

On to Kajiado through Arizona-like terrain and

toward the Tanzania border;

Namanga, Mt. Meru in the distance hovering,

tourist town, turn off for Amboseli,

long dirt road to lodge, a dry land,

dust devils in the distance, 

whirlwinds rising into the sky,

half-filled lodges below Kilimanjaro,

its peaks under foggy shroud,

animals on the plains, tourist vehicles

clogging roads, lion kills,

bright sun slowly burning clouds

to reveal the great mountain's Kenyan peaks:

mighty Kibo, the lesser Mawenzi,

towering over the plain, their dual power

awesome, majestic, image seared in

eye and forever sight.

J.B. Hogan has published over 290 stories and poems in eleven books, including Bary Harbor, Bounty Riders, Time and Time Again, Mexican Skies, Tin Hollows Living Behind Time, Losing Cotton, The Rubicon, Fallen, The Apostate, and Angels in the Ozarks (nonfiction, local professional baseball history).  He lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.