Leaving the Thompson Family Farm

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.