I heard about the buffalo
stampedes all pounding ground
and dust clouds and a long long
run across plains wide as sky
scything tangled miles of tallgrass

my momma calls me names
ne’er-do-well drifter crusader
but it’s in my blood in my
feet that aim to stir the dust
and furrow the land

I want to be caught all up
in something so great
that the earth can’t deny it
can’t ignore its passing
as it swells and builds

it’s not enough is it to live
lonely bound by the four walls
by the roof that shelters you no
instead run shoulder to hock
swept along in the heat of the herd

that howls with life that makes
us feel how small we are
sets prairie and heavens
heaving with our thousands
of throbbing bodies

/

Sarah Wernsing is a teacher, advisor, editor, and writer. She has worked at the University of Northern Colorado, Front Range Community College, and Colorado State University in varying capacities. Currently, Sarah’s full-time job is advising English students at Colorado State University for the College of Liberal Arts while editing and writing on the side. She would especially like to thank her teacher and mentor, Dr. Melanie Almeder at Roanoke College, who taught her to love the music and magic of poetry and who has also taught her much about revision.