Lament or Jubilee?

by Ron Ginther

Ten men’s trailers set in row,

All that’s left as hamlets often go.

Never really grown a town amid

Scrub grassland, pines, rocky ground.

“West Plains” it’s called, Tyler’s a has-been.

Its last store/ truck stop? Closed, and

Owners moved in.

Tyler, Tyler, didn’t anyone ever love you?

Whoever did, proved a charmer untrue.

A grange is faithful yet, and there’s a

Crossing for the railroad-

But the town itself is a tale grown cold.

Some things go up, some things go down,

But some things, alas, never turn back around.

Yet life’s still a funny, tricky thing-

A spin of the wheel can sho...