Antioch, 1979

Race cars crashing
Explosions of dust and fire
shake the pine and
corrugated steel stands

Outside the fairgrounds
blown in the grass
under the droop-branched trees
or across the street

Shitty kids
pissing on a Mary statue
laughing in the wind
like yer invisible

BMX bike on its side
in the dirt
where the driveway
will someday be

for now just a makeshift track
filled with weeds
tiny yellow flowers
broken and bent to the ground

dust blows clouds
across fields of chip-toothed
toe-headed Antioch kids

their younger half-brothers
& sisters pulling up
seconds too late
on smaller shittier bikes