Hick Orpheus with Harmonica and Train
for A.L. Van Horn (1910-1991)
Even the harmonica in his hands
was a beautiful engine:
in-take of breath, his mind
tonguing “Old Susanna”
out of the chambers against
the courthouse steps, or
packing it hard, muting it,
behind the depot, nineteen hundred
and twenty-seven, Garwin,
Iowa, until the train pulled in
like the articulated spine
of heaven, itself
harmonica-chambered, bruised
with the sun’s whiskey,
dented with rain. And then
the raw, un-tooled spike
of water (songline fading—
he measures a fence,
sucks marrow of weed,
picks at a fingernail) until
the wheels again take purchase,
gather and slide. Gather
and roll. As if the guts
of some giant watch were
soldered there, birthing time.
Its arm-and-socket turning
(the song, an arm-and-socket
turning). Daylight staggering
through gaps in the cars.
Boxcar, coffin of light,
upright as if for the viewing
of the dead—until the
sound dies, Susannah dies
and the train rocks on its
oily hips beyond the tree line.
by Dennis Hinrichsen
Dennis Hinrichsen has won numerous awards and grants for his poetry. He previously taught creative writing at Lansing Community College. His book, “Rip-tooth” was his 6th book and won the 2010 Tampa Poetry Prize. Two of his other books won the FIELD and Akron Poetry Prizes.
