Austin Allen James

Minus Eternity

Eleven hundred miles, eighteen hours,
and the waves of yesterday spread bare
in the sun. I am again in love with the funky,
warped spine of the space in my vehicle.

At escape velocity, there are no dried crops
curled in the sun, rusted-shut tractors in the pitch,
or turned-up dirt of a low-slung
late September field—I hardly recognize myself

in the breeze.  What is it to lose a memory?
It is the half-life of an abandoned house:
a native land I never meant to leave.
In time, the blunt tempest will take what remains

of our crumpled home, and exhale.
Even the blades of the windmills grow rust
along their spines, and eventually,
some of them forget to spin.

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Austin Allen James is a Visiting Professor at Texas Southern University. He has taught at TSU since the Fall of 2012. Austin was a committee member in 2016 charged with creating a “Professional Writing” concentration that includes five creative writing classes. Austin is also a visual artist, sculptor and furniture designer.