Hutchinson, Kansas
Prairie Town
There was a river under First and Main;
the salt mines honeycombed farther down.
A wealth of sun and wind ever so strong
converged on that home town, long gone.
At the north edge
there were the sand hills.
I used to stare for hours
at prairie dogs,
which had their town,
and folded their little paws
to stare beyond their fence
where I was.
River rolling in secret,
salt mines with care
holding your crystals and stillness,
north prairie--
what kind of trip can I make,
with what old friend,
ever to find a town
so widely rich again?
Pioneers, for whom history was walking
through dead grass,
and the main things that happened
were miles and the time of day--
you bilt that town,
and I have let it pass.
Little folded paws, judge me:
I came away.
William Stafford
Posted over on Kansas Heritage
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