These poems are from a series inspired by reading Atlas Obscura stories while listening to a music genre randomly selected from my list. The poems were written immediately after reading, still while listening to the randomly chosen music. Please share, click the clapping hands below, or throw me a dollar for coffee if you enjoy these.

The Triumphs and Tribulations of Towboats on the Mississippi River
(read the story here)
post rock

If I could dream I’d dream
of floating under the Natchez Bridge
in my nightgown, no jeans or workboots,
no exploded cargo of rice swelling,
no dead bodies, no rusted bones
of sinking barges. If I could dream.

I am too vital to dream.
I stay awake and hear
the severed accents of strangers
telling me where they are,
or a familiar voice wakes me
and I run to a 35 foot gash of oil.

I don’t even dream of dreaming.
I’m nobody’s dreamer.
I’m nobody’s secretary.
The river kicks my ass.
I ride it, ride it, ride it, and hope.

You can find me at http://www.erinlyndalmartin.com or on Twitter at @erinlyndal.