Gurney agrees  

to read my manuscript,
award credits I need  

to return to the classroom
but only if I drive deep  

into the mountains,
make my way further  

south than I’ve ever
traveled before to find  

a line of rockers
on a porch where he spins   

tales of Palo Alto
in the 60s, listening  

to this band he once knew
I know as the Grateful Dead  

because he likes
a good porch story  

after communal dinner
at Hindman, where poets  

retreat. I’m still
wondering how  

I made it back home.