just ask jackrabbit
somewhere in a photo box
lives the real truth of this town
before ghosts,
before cars lined in rows
became headstones in a graveyard
rusting, dusty
sunken into dirt
even before the well was empty
town hall graffitied,
boarded up,
condemned.
somewhere there is proof
but coyotes run rampant
a Great Horned Owl makes nest
in the bell tower
keeping its own time
overseeing
order
a rattlesnake finds lunch
in a careless lizard
swells upon the feast
coils back beneath the post office stairs
hides from the midday heat,
high noon’s siesta
jackrabbit saw it all
2008 came in off the horizon
faster than a speeding train
pillars of finance
dwarfed by cactus
crumbling
crumbling
jackrabbit remembers
listens
sits back on her hind legs
(her old rocker)
watches all the people leave