Walking at night

down the pale scar

of an unpaved two-track

in this remote corner

of the Pine Ridge Reservation

A dusty blanket of stars

is pulled overhead

and the unforgiving prairie

stretches

to a vast, circular horizon

Coyote’s song rings in my ear

like the afterglow

of a lightning flash.

To the east,

the ancient skeleton of the Badlands

dances

unseen and silent

Then I hear

three gunshots to the north

and the temperature drops

a good ten degrees

and now that I know

that I am not alone in this world,

suddenly,

I am lonely.

Marc Beaudin has published three chapbooks of poetry: “When

God Was a Child,” The Lost Writings of Miscellaneous Jones,”

and “Saginaw Songs” with fellow poet Al Hellus. His first novel,

A Handful of Dust, was published in 2002. His work has been chosen

for inclusion in an anthology of contemporary American poetry

in Turkish translation to be published in Ankara, Turkey. Information

on his work can be found at:

http://healtheearth.tripod.com.