Idaho Prose Poem
From the State Sonnet Series
Idaho, Gem
State, though
what is meant by
“gem”? I always think
of Opals. Are opals found in Idaho?
Known for potatoes, I think of alfalfa,
the scent of water laying all night in fertile,
green ditches. I think of all the golf courses covered
in grass, the silver heads of sprinklers turning in the
heavy humid dusk. Nights around the fire with dust
on our shoes. The way we lied while we smiled. My
Own Private Idaho. Washed away, the way mountains
and memories erode. Idaho, you taste of pepper-
mint schnapps and clove cigarettes. All sins.
Poem A Day 