Doug Draime

UNDER THE STEAMING SUN


It was sidesaddle
   with flaming
roses but without
mint juleps, on a
plantation near Memphis
a century ago, near
the woodshed under the
steaming sun in mid-
August. The horses were sold
5 or 6 a day for next to nothing
to passing acrobats with
traveling circuses, or to anyone
with the price
of a plug of Virginia tobacco;
wholesale corruption
even then to ladies who
couldn’t ride any other way
(with hoop skirts, of course).
Sober as General Lee at
the signing, with passion
between the gallops
high brow with tea in the morning,
swift China fans at noon
with delicate faces half hidden;
and always before the horses
were saddled, giggling at the ground,
then behind
the trees in the far meadow plans were made
for treachery under the steaming sun.

Doug Draime has ben publishing since the late 1960's. His most recent books are: "Spiders And Madmen" (Scintillating Publications) and "Last May" (Kendra Steiner Editions). Forthcoming from Tainted Coffee Press, "Dancing On The Skids" and "Los Angeles Terminal", from Covert Poetics Books. His diverse range of writing, including poems, short stories, and plays continue to appear in publications worldwide. He lives in Oregon.