PRAIRIE STORY

Y'all know the bitch who ran from Güber's Farm,
the one lives in the forest
off highway fifteen. They say
she's got distemper, sure barks
at the wasps. One night I disturbed her
knocking over trash; she turned,
black,
          yes,
                 and foaming at the jaw.
I almost puked with fright, ran
to get my gun but she was gone.

Knew a man hit her with his Cadillac,
goes white as he tells it.
She threw no shadows on the moonlit road,
had been nosing the roadkill
when the headlights surprise her.

He'll show you dents — nine
thumps in the right side fender —
bitch must have fought back.
Güber told me she's as strong as tractors.

Folks are terrified:
Three young ones maimed in Lower Salem,
babies taken. High price
for the steaming corpse.

Dog Warden's been missing weeks. 
Can't catch a bitch like that. she can outrun jeeps.
I heard she's got a fetish for chicken wire and burger joints.