Poetic Abilene, Texas

Abilene, Texas is a city of over 120,000 residents. It has a plethora of churches, several religious-based universities, is quite conservative, and a buckle of the southern USA bible belt. It also features a dry, hot, and in my opinion, an extremely unpleasant climate. It’s also the subject of The Abilene Paradox.

This poem expresses my feelings about the area. I’m not sure how many friends I have around Abilene, but after this I’ll assume fewer.

 

ABILENE

See the circling vultures waiting,
To claim their carrion, ready for plating.

Watch heat rise from the desert collage,
Shimmering around some distant mirage.

Feel the sun’s brutal and forceful heat,
Touch melting road tar beneath burnt feet.

A Pumpjack

Smell the black gold under rock and stone,
Hear pumpjacks mock with their painful groan.

Satan’s throne room would surely be here,
‘cept for the churches, so many so dear.

God’s centers of learning are in control,
No secular center may present you a scroll.

Shudder against winter’s north winds, so cold,
Survival’s unlikely for the sick and the old.

Tumble brush and briar, lowly mesquite trees,
Prickly pear cactus among the parched weeds.

Too hot or too cold, too dry and too bold,
On Abilene, Texas, I could never be sold.

~ by Bill Reynolds

Look both ways and mind the gaps.
Also, mind the heat, the cold, the snakes, the scorpions, the fire ants, the prickly cactus,
the sticky briars, and the annoying thumpers.

 

7 thoughts on “Poetic Abilene, Texas”

  1. Found your great blog from Arlee Bird: Thought this was most educational and in poetry form too. I have a poetry blog also. Thanks for a most interesting read.
    Yvonne.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  2. A thought: not all poetry rhymes, nor does it need to. (You knew that) At times poems can be a wonderful little container for a thought; sonnet, ghazal, couplets, etc. and done well, they become part of the poem, not just the box that holds it.
    The other kind, ‘free verse’, if you will, while not traditional, can allow a poet to use more precise language, and more subtlety, and freedom to often become the tinder that makes a poem take off.

    (I love the second line, “ready for plating”, Oh the image that brings up, like Warner Brothers cartoon vultures, knife and fork at the ready…)

    If you do have friends in Abilene, and you go visiting, throw your hat through the door before you walk in. =)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment