Chickens cluck. Cartons of zucchini,
eggs, tomatoes, and two dozen
husks of fresh corn rattle
against a box filled
with books, coasters,
and water balloons in the trunk
of the SUV when my partner
and I pull out
onto the potholed road.
We are hungry and excited
to make dinner together tonight
and talk more about the bulldozer
mounted on a thick metal stake
in someone’s front yard,
rising like a mechanical Lazarus.
Joey Nicoletti‘s latest books are Extinction Wednesday: A Memoir (Bordighera, 2024) and Breakaway (Broadstone Books, 2023). He teaches writing at SUNY Buffalo State University.