for Brinkman, Oklahoma, no longer a town

Push it through, allow it
to pass as an ending,
a severed railway tied
to the breath of Brinkman.

Say abandoned in 1974,
or retracted, as even the
weighted story of geography
evaporates from under us.

See a dust lazy on the tracks
until lifted and burned,
these veins of a northbound
force vanishing into
a faded shadow limb
reaching heaven.

The families spoke low
on Sundays, the whistle
a signal for the preacher
to start bringing his
sermon to a close.