Bottle Tree, Taqueria

San Antonio. Some people know what tacos are, others know what bottle trees are. Some people go to Texas, others go to Hell. Charlie Pride sings by the taqueria with the bottle tree: Is anybody goin’ to San Antone? You may all go to Hell. The woman with the Spanish accent intones the words of […]

We are the Skin-Walkers

New Mexico. “Ay, mis hijos! Pueblo fantasma!” “No. It is not a ghost town. The population has been shrinking since the 1950s. The trains don’t seem to matter so much. Half of the gas stations have been closed with shelves stocked with products for a few years, and we can’t get any coolant, but it’s […]

Miracle Phone

Beardstown, Illinois. FREE CALLS Receive God’s Blessings Get Daily Prayer — Press *12 Need Cash Now Easy Quick Loans — Press *13 Need Help Finding a Job — Press *14 Need a Credit Card — Press *15 Check the Weather — Press *16 5 minutos por $1.00 Other countries Anywhere in the world For available […]

What Happened in El Paso

The Texas-Mexico Border. He said, “Mejor que haya un loco y no dos. Better only one crazy. That’s why I don’t argue.” There is a longer version of Marty Robbins’ 1959 “El Paso”. In 1966 he wrote and recorded “Feleena (From El Paso)”, which tells the back story of the Mexican woman from the earlier […]

Big Hole Where Illinois Used to Be

Chicago Southland. I left the Toyota parked in South Holland over the Fall and the battery started leaking. So I replaced the battery, got the nodes all lubed up. Running up and down E 162nd and S Halsted. Between the auto parts, the burgers with dressings, the shopping centers, Wampum Lakes Woods. In quiet solemnity […]

Watermelon in a Dry, Dry Place

Emery County, Utah. People’s favorite melons are the ones that ripen first. When you crack open the melons or the tour buses or the truck stops the moistness comes trickling out. The bus came via I-70, I-15 from L.A., the green Han character on the side packed together all the meaning which was visible on […]