ASK THE GHOST ROADS.

• Author: Dougherty, Sean Thomas

For the names of the lynched For the names of the good old boys Who shoot up the sign on the spot Emmett Till was murdered. About plowed over Indian graves, Ask the ghost roads about chicken bones, And spent bullet casings, About a girl who went out for a walk And never came home, About her mother and a can of castor oil, About pig farmers and homemade sausage, About empty dressing gowns And bent hangers About swollen eyes and sawdust And the grr of a chainsaw And the crows. Ask the ghost roads about trailers About sumac About the same question asked Over and over until there is only leaf-shudder And no wind. About dry dirt spilling from a hand. About barn burnings and first blooms About abandon About the absence of an hour About a wife and a wrong word And a double wide...