ANNA PAULOWNA

ANNA PAULOWNA

Dorsey likes that a town
is named for a woman
and the pretty doors on the houses

We stop at a garage for directions
I think this is okay in a town
named for a woman

The men with little English explain
that we have to go back, cross the tracks
go to the dike and turn right again
and the toilet is in the back shop

There are
Audis and Volkswagens up on hoists
the bathroom is clean, the tools are clean
the cars are clean, the floors are clean

If the dike breaks
and rolls across this town

Anna will be proud to know
there will be no oil slick on its surface
as it rolls across the fields