Colorado
Buzz the fall fly in my bonnet
Burr the chain saw feeding the smoke
Calming my own self as it all falls around me
Autumn’s come so settle down
We’ll be here now til winter
There are horses here
Penny, Nickels , Dime, Quarte, Half and Dollabill
A quiet place, worthless really
Eight thousand acres of nothing
On the corner of a pipeline and a dirt road
Place called Slick Rock
On the Dolores Sometimes River
Biggest noise we’ve heard yet
Gas line crew came through
With horses and riders, who knew
Nickels and Dime wanted to join them
I was tempted to allow it
But I kept them in the stall
I’ve known some horses
But these two are just flat out stupid
Penny is the biggest and the boss, a red mare
Quarte is dull and strong, eats a lot
Half and Dollabill are married
Now for awhile we have this ranch
We ride the gas line
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I had to look up Slick Rock and the Delores River as this poem must be deeper than the surface, I thought with my little brain.
Sure enough, it was the center of Uranian mining from the 1940s to 1980s. Nuclear accidents and the end of the Cold War, shut them down. There were the activists helping too. Now that the price of Uranian is going up again, the mighty dollar is leading to talks of opening up these mines again. And the water quality of the Dolores River is still being tested for drinkability.
A brilliant satirical, metaphorical poem that tells the story of greed destroying the natural beauty and gifts of our world.