IN COLD BLOOD 

[Perry and Hickcock driving through Emporia 
on the way to Holcomb and the Clutters]

Perry: What a fuckin dump…

Hickcock: Aint it though, honey?

[They drive down East Sixth Avenue past
the Plumb Mansion, the Carnegie Library, 
the Civic Auditorium, then take a right on Commercial Street to Haines Hardware]

Hickcock: How’s this for taping them shut?

Perry: Okay, I guess. Some gloves. Rope.

PERRY SMITH POSING 

Perry Smith posing—
In front of the mirror
In the bus-stop bathroom

Pumping himself up—
For Dick Hickcock and
Their Holcomb murders

Burroughs Haiku

William S. Burroughs' Home in Lawrence KS

BURROUGHS HAIKU

“The cat does not offer services. 
The cat offers itself.” 
—William S. Burroughs
THE CAT INSIDE
_________________ 

So I ended up—
like Burroughs there in Kansas
with my cats inside

Train, Track, Trees

TRAIN, TRACKS, TREES

What is it about—
Late afternoon when
The sun is slanting down?

A train approaching—
The rusty red rails, the
Track that goes forever

And the elm trees—
Standing there by the
Tracks so patiently

Even the dying ones—
Branch out in a stately
Pose as the train goes by…

Kansas Haiku / Tanka

KANSAS HAIKU

—for James Kirkup

OMEN OF WINTER

A cottonwood leaf—
suddenly drops on my porch
omen of winter

SANTA FE MOON

Summer Kansas moon—
sinking low over the tracks
down by the river

BNSF HAIKU

Santa Fe bright red—
& Burlington Northern green
nearby on the rails

WAW LIBRARY

It was there in that—
great library without walls
that I found myself

SUNFLOWER TANKA

Midwestern sunshine—
the assembled sunflowers
all along the Cottonwood
their upturned faces
smiling up into the sky

West of Emporia

BNSF Emporia sub west of Emporia KS 5-26-08

by Eric Burris

WEST OF EMPORIA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmIzK48IxBM

Driving down Hwy 50—
Big cumulous clouds
Drifting by overhead

West of Emporia KS—
Then at milepost 119.3 
Turn into County Road B5
___________

Taking a left—
Down a dead-end
Muddy country road 

Stopping at some
Train-watching spot
Enjoying the action
_____________

A long row of tall—
Cottonwood trees
As a nice backdrop

Leafy in the spring—
Moody, spindly fingery
Branches in the winter

Spectral Kansas Winter

BNSF action west of Emporia KS with snow

SPECTRAL KANSAS WINTER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjjhzuHnY34

There’s something about—
The way the speeding train
Cuts through all the bullshit

Even the whipping cold wind—
Bows in obedience to the power
Of the dynamic diesel engines
______________

Standing here in the snow—
Colder than even a witch’s tit 
The spectral landscape trembles

The ground shakes, the bells—
Clang, the shrieking whistle as
The Doppler Effect goes by