Indiana

Flatter than a pancake
Miles and miles of dark brown dirt
A tree here, a tree there, trees along the fencerows
Cross over the river
The sun shining yellow in the true blue sky

Honest people giving an honest day's work
Shaking hands, looking you square in the eye
They all liked Johnny
Just a farm boy on the run
Grinning as he wrapped his arm around the district attorney
He should have stayed away from Chicago

A tractor is churning up the dust
Drive shaft rolling, purring,
An engineer from Rose-Hulman
Is tweaking an Offenhauser engine
Setting it free to fly around the oval,
Round and round and round,
Chasing that checkered flag.

It is time again to join the Winter's dance:
The pass, the movement, the follow-through
Squeak, squeak, squeak on the hardwood floor,
Feint left, switch hands, jump and let fly,
The sweet arc toward the hoop, the return to earth:
A Hoosier homecoming.

An orange leaf floats down the brown river
A cardinal sits perched on a barbed wire fence
Staring at the whispy clouds in the broad blue sky
Waiting for the next big blow of Winter
White on white on white,
Fade to dark in a star-blown night.