PRIME MOVER
Teapot Dome
North of Casper, near the seeps
Of crude at Powder Spring
That brought the early wildcatters
West into Wyoming
Speeding over drilling fields
Where oil and water meet
In pools beneath the horsehead pumps
Lifting on the downbeat
Up ahead a hundred feet
A kiting bird of prey
Pale wings flashing, suddenly
Dives into the highway
Swirling into turbulence
In front of the engine grill
Which ventilates the revolutions
Of the combustion cycle
Powering the vehicle
Whose driver never sees
Pinned to the chrome, the body
Of a slaughtered falcon.
Author’s Bio
JIM FISHER is a poet, pamphleteer, and banjo picker from Berkeley, California. A past contributor to Vallum: Contemporary Poetry, he is the sole proprietor of 99centbroadsides, an Etsy shop featuring the poetry of Clayton Peacock.