I workshopped this one today in our Writers' Guild. At the suggestion of one of the members, I've changed the layout to visually play into the picture of the town disappearing into nothing. I've also changed a couple of words.

Empty Streets (Birds, IL)
-- revision #4

Eagle Drive long ago dried up; Bluebird, Dove, Hummingbird branch off
leading to nowhere. A broken Bud Light sign marks the remains of
the local bar while a couple of churches, centered on vacant
lots, still shout service times from their signboards. Grids
of rotted cement curbs outline blocks once populated
with businesses and homes bought out by the state.
A roadside littered with white turkey feathers
leads to a nearby marsh inhabited by safely
preserved brown-eyed Susans, marsh
mallows, and electric blue
dragonflies.

Copyright Cher Cunningham, 2006
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Thanks for reading!

Cher

Nice! And the "shape" of the poem reminds me a little of a wing.

: )

Ooh, I really like this! Yes, nice touch that it displays in the shape of a wing, but also, the whole thing has movement, starting with the first line where you talk about birds and it ends with the electric blue dragonflies, which we know can take off and land at will so effortlessly.

The broken Bud sign reminds me of a kind of tomb stone marker of the old local bar....the churches continuing to hawk their service times in the presence of no one (except the reader)....such a nice read.

Thanks for including the part about the state buying out the properties, as it gives the reader some context of what happened. Towards the end where you offer the reader the safety of the seemingly timeless brown-eyed Susans and Marsh mallows...and it wasn't until this last reading here that we have the safety of the dragonflies too. As one who believes very much in holistic healing and activities of daily living, I think that placing that dragonfly at the end for the reader to "meet", this other living thing that is going about its day in its own simplistic beautiful way....that's a nice prize for making it to the end of your work!

Thanks for posting. Would enjoy seeing more of your writing ~

- Carolyn

Thanks so much for reading and commenting. I haven't been writing much lately. I'm not really sure why. I thought it was because my creativity had veered off into photography, but I don't really think it's that. I haven't really been able to write much since my mother died in 2003. Much of my writing that year and shortly after her death was full of anger and grief. My heart just hasn't been in it much since. I did write a short, short story and an even shorter one (50 words) which won a writing contest. Now, with school back in session, our Writers' Guild is up and running with a good amount of students participating. I'm also involved as a volunteer advisor to our newly formed online 'zine called vu1801.com. The Guild is working on a vampire story project, and I have volunteered to write one for inclusion if it's good enough. Mine will be a bit different from the students, I'm sure as mine is about those vampires that truly do exist. The ones that feed off positive energy of the strong. Believe me, they're out there in numbers.

Thanks again and sorry for the ramble.

Cher