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Truck Stop Dog, a poem by Thomas Alan Orr

Truck Stop Dog
by Thomas Alan Orr

Wingo lounges in the grass
under tulip trees
near the Ready Go truck stop
along the interstate
near Indianapolis.
He’s headed for Denver
(only he knows why),
waiting on his ride.
Here comes Toledo Jake
in his big Kenworth T660.
Wingo jumps aboard,
head out the window,
tongue lolling, wind tearing
at his ears, Jake shifting
into high gear, wheels whining.
The open road is all that matters.

West of Abilene,
Jake is on the radio
checking highway patrol
with a tanker out of Bismarck,
a flatbed out of Tulsa.
Wingo slurps Cheerios and milk
in the sleeping berth, content.
They cruise into the pit stop
near mile marker two-sixty-five
and Wingo is out the door.
On the knoll, a pretty cur
wags her tail and off they go,
Denver deferred, Jake shouting,
Adios, hermano!” He sighs
and gazes wistfully after Wingo,
chasing love on the open road.


About the poet: Orr's most recent collection is Tongue to the Anvil: New and Selected Poems (Restoration Press).