VQR Online

Hayden Carruth, a frequent contributor to VQR, passed away at 87.

Or so we must assume.

Coming home with the last load I ride standing
on the tongue of the trailer, behind the tractor
in its hot exhaust, lank with sweat

Do you hear       as if
in a far away room
down a narrow hall
in another part of the hotel

It’s the gray of canning season rain,
neither cool nor warm, and mottled
with feeble light.

This black sedan lies on its top
on the kitchen window sill, its wheels
in the air, its battery drained,
the oil trickling into the cylinders.