Roadside poetry

It’s not conscious or deliberate; it’s not created with poetic intention. It’s just there, an artifact from the real world.

We actually turned the car around to go back and get this one:

“Lamb ‘n mutton”
“Cut ‘n wrapped”

It’s got cadence – lamb ‘n mutton – a rich sequence of round consonants and soft, humming, roof-of-the-mouth “n”s.
It’s crisp and sharp –cut ‘n wrapped – you say the “cut ‘n” like you’d say “cotton”, attack the “C” but slur the “t”.

“Lamb ‘n mutton”
“Cut ‘n wrapped”

And there it is on the side of the road for everyone to see – pure, unadorned, unassuming – like a fossil lying in the dirt that, until it was noticed, was just another rock.


On Route 24 near Loa, Utah     September 12, 2015