Wednesday, October 27, 2021

13,904. THE MANTOLOKING RAILS

THE MANTOLOKING RAILS
To go ahead and look it up is
not quite worth the time. One
misleading foot-path thru the
woodsy firs and sand.
-
Copper mine, once? Or bog iron?
Natives in the densest woods with
a small fire over and rock-strewn 
soil? I just don't know. Moonshiners
know the way to go, and fast.
-
Once there was a cranberry bog here
too  -  with a line of shacks for the 
seasonal workers. Those shacks are
all crumbling now, damp and rotted.
All that's left is a long, metal sink,
about 10 people wide, and it has two
sides. 
-
All that's there now? A few old shaving
mirrors, with the backs all peeled, and
a soap dish, here and there, still mounted
on a wobbly pole. Farther off, in the
weeds, a '52 Mercury, and an ancient
GMC, faded red, like a surly, old soul.

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