Roadhouse

I want the spell
of a woman--her

smell & say-so--
her humid

hands I seek--zombied--
The bayou

of my blood--standing
water & the 'squitoes

all hungry--hongry--
to see both our bodies

knocked out--dragged
quicksand down--

They'll put up posters--
have you seen--all over town--

Days later we'll be drug
naked from the swamp

that is us--re-
suscitated, rescued--

the cops without one clue.

Copyright © 2001 by Kevin Young.

Kevin Young is Ruth Lilly Professor of Poetry at Indiana University, Bloomington. He is the author of To Repel Ghosts (2001) and Most Way Home (1995), selected by Lucille Clifton as part of the National Poetry Series and winner of the John C. Zacharis First Book Prize from Ploughshares.

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