Earlier Poets in Minnesota

By Rodney Nelson

McGrath in Moorhead looked out for an eye
of knowing glee to match his own and did
not find a one among the listeners
             not a poetry reading
         anyhow
but an old union singalong


Bly in Mankato wore a Dacron shirt
under his serape and the piping
of a pheasant cock took over the room
            not a poetry reading
        anyhow
but a self-motivation workshop


Wright in Saint Paul got everybody
to lower their heads with him in regret
while he intoned the rites so weightily
           not a poetry reading
       anyhow
but a prayer meeting after class.




Rodney Nelson's work appeared in mainstream journals long ago; but he turned to fiction and did not write a poem for twenty-two years, restarting in the 2000s. See his page in the Poets & Writers directory. He has worked as a copy editor and lives in the plains states.