Bad Land

 

The road ahead
Tapered to infinity

A smell of red dust

Sagebrush on stony slopes

 

Bad Land

Bad Land

 

Empty country

Driedout creek beds

Dry grass

Howling like surf

 

Bad Land

Bad Land

 

For every surviving ranch (you pass) a dozen ruins

Buckled by Montana’s winter snows

Their windows empty of glass are full of sky blue sky

Full of sky

 

Single fence posts

Trailing a few whiskers of wire

Houses and machinery

Rapidly fading from the land

 

Bad Land

Bad Land

 

For every surviving ranch (you pass) a dozen ruins

Buckled by Montana’s winter snows

Their windows empty of glass are full of sky blue sky

Full of sky

 

Bad Land

West of Mississippi river

No rainfall follows the plow

Bad Land

Great American Desert

Bad Land bad land

Bad Land

 

The surface of the land

Chopped as a rough sea

Sandstone outcrops

Hollow combers of bleached clay

 

Bad land

Bad land

 

For every surviving ranch (you pass) a dozen ruins

Buckled by Montana’s winter snows

Their windows empty of glass are full of sky blue sky

Full of sky

 

Bad land

West of Mississippi river

No rainfall follows the plow

Bad land

Great American Desert

Bad land bad land

Bad land bad land

Bad land

 

Words from the book "Bad Land" by Jonathan Raban used with kind permission of the author.