46: Oklahoma

Dust rising from distant horizon. Pickup truck streaking along perpendicular gravel roads. Route 66 stretching south, southwest.

Cement road running through ruins. Houses falling into their foundations. Ghost towns returning to prairie.

Smoke rising from faraway refineries. Rusting oil derricks pecking at barren cornfield. Fat crows chasing the worm.

Rows of parallel lines intersecting. Some solitary farmer plowing rows of stones. This dry landscape, ever changing. His straw hat shading faded gray overalls. A scarecrow harvesting bumper crops of nothing.

White clouds turning gray, coalescing. Raindrops kicking up footstep puffs of dust.  Dark sky spiraling down, funneling. Dirty road turning muddy in the mirror. A tornado slashing unmarred plains like calligraphy.


Country giving way to city. Buffalo retreating from the roadside. Trees turning back into houses.

Round red barn crouching, windowless. Glowing soda bottle reaching 66 feet high. Giant metal crucifix standing empty.

Turning south into Oklahoma City. Golden sunlight falling on buildings, reflecting pools. Countless chairs lying in rows.

Red traffic lights turning green. All-glass building complex reflecting all the others. Elevated walkway spanning the street. Skyscraper shadows standing as still as scarecrows.  Sundials marking movement of space and time.

City limits decaying into suburbs. Telephone poles and wires springing up alongside. Passing Will Rogers World Airport. Predator drone floating in the cornflower sky. Listless guard watching the horizon for tornadoes.


Driving along route 66 again. A lonely highway chasing the setting sun. A hitchhiker looking westward, squinting.

Following a route on GoogleMaps. The Great Plains forming an upturned palm. Oklahoma’s finger pointing the way.

Driving an unmarked black sedan. Cameras automatically snapping nine frames at once. Making panoramas of the states.