In Place of Steeples

Milton Jordan

September 15, 2024

Daddy drove U.S. 75 north 

some mid-June Mondays taking Mother and us

to Grandmother’s house, Grandaddy’s too,

when that two-lane highway wound through Texas 

small towns, widening beyond Corsicana 

where we began searching from the rear seat

for sight of a neon-red winged horse,

Mother often first asking, D’you see it?

Magnolia Oil built their sky high headquarters

rising above surrounding rooflines 

and set their familiar logo higher still

on a replica derrick, Pegasus 

welcoming us and others traveling evenings  

for their own reasons to downtown Dallas.

Milton Jordan lives with Anne in Georgetown, Texas. He co-edited the first Texas Poetry Assignment anthology, Lone Star Poetry, Kallisto Gaia Press, 2022