Kansas by JD DeHart

I have heard of Kansas
but never been there.
My image of the state is best
summed up in the major
motion picture The Wizard
of Oz.  Mostly it’s based on
the line We’re not in Kansas
anymore.

So, Kansas must be that
state on the way to another
state.  I imagine waving fields
of wheat, curiously interspersed
with a glowing emerald castle.
Popular culture has wreaked
havoc on my social conscience.

Dorothy is no longer the
sweet girl we knew.  She’s been
on drugs for years.  Married
three times with five children
that don’t visit anymore.  Because
they are not in Kansas anymore
and she is stuck there.

JD DeHart is a writer and teacher. His chapbook, The Truth About Snails, is available on Red Dashboard.