On a recent trip from St. Louis to Portland, I was inspired by the bird's eye view of the Kansas landscape. I was surprised by the mixed emotions from what I saw and the way my imagination spun from discrete images. As someone who loves farm life, but hasn't lived it full time, the surprise came from leaving the joy of that way of life and latching onto unrest.
excerpt from "over Kansas." photos from morgueFile by (left-right, top-bottom) Mrooczek262, rio4tense, click, kconners
over Kansas
Even when the terrain seems textured,
quadrilateral edges emerge
and I can see how much of the earth
has been reduced to squares.
As a child this patchwork was awe,
and in some ways I can still marvel
at the perfect expanse
of unfaltering lines across the wild
curves of rivers and mountain ranges and
occassional towns.
It seems so exposed
as if living on this grid
means the only solitude is
within the even smaller boxes
of house, bedroom, closet, drawer,
and book (but mostly,
I just fail to imagine life
off the grid).
Maybe the contours of western Colorado
are still more rugged
like the body and brain
and can be enough
to bring peace to my time
over Kansas.
©Erin Croley
Even when the terrain seems textured,
quadrilateral edges emerge
and I can see how much of the earth
has been reduced to squares.
As a child this patchwork was awe,
and in some ways I can still marvel
at the perfect expanse
of unfaltering lines across the wild
curves of rivers and mountain ranges and
occassional towns.
It seems so exposed
as if living on this grid
means the only solitude is
within the even smaller boxes
of house, bedroom, closet, drawer,
and book (but mostly,
I just fail to imagine life
off the grid).
Maybe the contours of western Colorado
are still more rugged
like the body and brain
and can be enough
to bring peace to my time
over Kansas.
©Erin Croley
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