Here’s GT Poetry Editor Ron Whitehead’s poem “merging” which just won The Dirty River Press Award from the Kentucky State Poetry Society:
at 4:17am june 10th 2015 i’m 64 merging
onto interstate 65 jinn and i taking angie
to the airport her mother died yesterday
she’s flying to florida tractor trailer trucks
and cars rumbling planes growling late night
i put my glasses on and realize there are
3 lanes not 2 and as we cross the ohio river
bridge i merge to 4:17am june 10th 1959
i’m 8 when i was a boy i visited grandaddy
and mamaw as often as possible they lived
in valley view valley station louisville’s south end
i have a huge family mama is the oldest of 13
daddy was 1 of 11 i’m the oldest of 6 when
i visited mamaw and grandaddy 8 of us boys
slept upstairs in the same bed 4 at the top
4 at the bottom there was no air conditioning
in the house on that hot june 10th night
the windows were open through the night
while the other boys were snoring my eyes
my ears were wide open listening to the traffic
the tractor trailer trucks and cars rumbling
up and down dixie highway in amazement
with delight i wondered where they were
all going i wanted to go too and finally i did
merging onto interstate 65 heading to the airport
ron whitehead