The Fugitive Kind

She wakes in Asia on Sunday, buses
the brunch plates and pockets an eggroll
for a guy she should leave. When he straightens
her smile with another girl and his good hand
she catches the wind of the jet stream again
and aims for ocean. Otherwise the wind is in her face
and her legs are part of a bicycle.
Her eyes belong to a woman Oklahoma
wants back, her faith to a Choctaw father
and his book about redemption. And if there's not
there should be a story there about a girl
who rises from the ashes of her tribe to falter
among Badlands. A story to stop her, no matter what
or how many or even why men call out to her.

Copyright © 2009 Austin Hummell All rights reserved
from Iron Horse Literary Review
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission