Trace Road

by JD DeHart 

The old truck bumped and I now envy
my dad knowing how to fix it up.
How to turn the dials and crawl under,
looking so informed.
We listened to gospel while we he took
me on vein winding river trails,
capillary side trips,
past old houses and trash dumps,
each having a story and a people –
that was the Bashams, he told me,
although they never waved.
We found piles of fossils and dried out
old skins, my fingers turning desolated
childhood treasures over again,
then making our way to the living.

JD DeHart is a writer and teacher. His first chapbook, The Truth About Snails, was released in the fall.