{"id":432,"date":"2015-09-10T16:08:33","date_gmt":"2015-09-10T20:08:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fortneranderson.com\/?page_id=432"},"modified":"2015-09-10T16:08:33","modified_gmt":"2015-09-10T20:08:33","slug":"selected-poems-vegas","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/fortneranderson.com\/?page_id=432","title":{"rendered":"Selected Poems – Vegas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vegas <\/strong><\/p>\n

There’s a cross
\nin the desert sky
\nwhere two contrails meet.
\nAn X drawn on a blue so stark
\nit must mean something,
\nI think.<\/p>\n

Is it up there or down here,
\nthis spot the X marks?<\/p>\n

To the left of the aircraft
\nLas Vegas.<\/p>\n

14 stories high, room 22025
\nyou and I
\nin a black pyramid made of glass.
\nWhen night comes
\nfrom its apex a powerful beacon shines
\nstraight-up into darkness.<\/p>\n

My father lies in a hospital bed,
\n(in Tucson?).
\nShould I call after so many years?<\/p>\n

Driving out of LA this morning
\nwe climbed 3000 feet
\nfrom the glare and haze
\nup past the city of Ontario, past San Bernardino
\n(and then the world-famous Summit Cafe).
\nAt 4000 feet it’s too dry even for the Joshua trees.
\nYou read to me from the study-guide
\nI learn
\nJohn A. Macdonald was the father of confederation;
\nNunuvut: Canada’s youngest territory,
\nApril Fools Day, 1990 something–
\nit’s already gone.<\/p>\n

At Barstow I remembered Harry Partch
\nand considered a run into the Mojave,
\n(When will pass here again?)
\nbut didn’t.
\nWe entered the realm of the pharaohs
\nand took the Inclinator up to our room with its slanted wall
\nwhich looks out over Henderson Field, the Mandalay Bay Inn
\nand the desert beyond.
\nIt’s hard to believe there were meadows here once,
\nand I think
\nbut do not say
\nyou ought to meet your grandfather
\nonce.
\nWhen I look again the sky is clear.<\/p>\n

After dinner we walk the strip
\npast New York New York, Paris and Monte Carlo,
\nwe stop at the M&M theme-store.
\nOn the corners, whole families fresh into America
\nhawk free singles classifieds.
\nThey do this thing
\nrubbing the rolled paper in their palms
\nslapping it against their thighs,
\nthrusting it out down low
\nhoping for takers
\namongst the fresh-faced Americans who wander here.<\/p>\n

On our way back
\nwe watch awhile
\nthe flight of birds
\nvery high aloft
\nas they drift in and out
\nof that intense beam.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vegas There’s a cross in the desert sky where two contrails meet. An X drawn on a blue so stark it must mean something, I think. Is it up there or down here, this spot the X marks? To the left of the aircraft Las Vegas. 14 stories high, room 22025 you and I in … Continue reading Selected Poems – Vegas<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-432","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fortneranderson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fortneranderson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fortneranderson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fortneranderson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fortneranderson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=432"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fortneranderson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":433,"href":"https:\/\/fortneranderson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/432\/revisions\/433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fortneranderson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}