READING NOTES — I think I finally understand Baudrillard, which is to say, I think I finally understand how to read him. Take a phrase like, “The real is not real.” It’s infuriating. It doesn’t mean anything. Of course, that’s half the point. If you don’t see that, then you’ll set him down and never pick him up again.

SPOKANE, Wash. — As I struggle to say something positive about this museum, I recall the adage, “If you can’t … don’t say anything at all.” So why do I feel compelled to write? I think it’s because my struggle to say something nice has more to do with me than with the museum itself.

SPOKANE, Wash. — My wife and I go to Avista Stadium. I order some chicken strips and fries. I know I’ll regret. I do it anyway. It’s a theme in life, the counterpoint of which is, “I know I won’t regret it, so I do it immediately.” The bridge between the two themes is the word, “yes.”

SPOKANE, Wash. — A poem inspired by Humaira Abid’s “The Stains Are Forever,” part of an exhibit at the Northeast Museum of Arts and Culture.

BELLE FOURCHE, S.D. — Behind the Belle Fourche Visitors center, there is a large round monument to the Geographic Center of the United States. It is only a monument. The actual location, I am told, is farther north, marked by a government surveyor. It’s close but still too far out of the way for most travelers, so they built one here.

GREENFIELD REST AREA EASTBOUND, Indiana — Praise the sun! Yes, it’s chilly but nothing compared to the two weeks we spent in North Dakota. It feels good to step into 40-degree weather. I don’t even wear a jacket as I approach the building. With each step, the smell of vinegar grows stronger.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — When did you last think about Mad Max: Thunderdome? How Tina Turner, a gay icon, and Mel Gibson, a famous bigot, shared the same space and made a cult movie?

RICHMOND, Va. — I pay attention to these sculptures for the first time, these sculptures I’ve passed at least one hundred times in five years. I stop and stare at these unremarkable sculptures because they happen to be there when my anguish needs something to hold.

WISHEK N.D. — The wall is covered in carpet that looks like wood. The same woman’s name is on most of the leaderboards tacked to the walls. She and her son play in the adjacent lane. There are eight lanes. Approximately 40 bowling balls rest on shelves. There is a coat rack with 24 hangers.

MYSTIC, Conn. — An HVAC unit (GE model) for heat and air conditioning, affixed to the wall. Under the lid to the thermostat, a sign: THIS UNIT IS CONTROLLED BY WALL THERMOSTAT. / A window, white gauzy curtains, brown textured blinds, yellow-gray-brown striped drapes

BISMARCK, N.D. — The solarium is spacious. There are trees and couches and soft music. The side of my face is flush with heat from a gas fireplace. A hospital employee sits in an armchair with her feet on an ottoman. A minute later, she’s asleep. Her head goes limp and drifts to her shoulder. Her arms slip from the armrests and hang to the side of the chair.

RICHMOND, Va. — The queen is dead. So what? A hurricane slams the Dominican Republic. Japan braces for a typhoon’s wallop. Also, “In a Ukrainian forest, Russian retreat means digging up the dead.” At least the pandemic is officially over, jk.

MEADVILLE, Pa. —Meadville is / staying at the Holiday Inn Express / reading the first chapter of Debord’s Society as Spectacle / walking across a highway to eat

RACHEL, Nev. — do poems count / should I refrain / from mentioning / the Project Oxcart memorial outside the inn / inside, the Galaxy Quest poster behind the bar / the gift shop in the corner / the dollar bills that hang from the ceiling / names and drawings in permanent marker

DURANGO, Colo. — I think it’s funny that everyone has a regular glass, but I am served the giant mug. I didn’t ask for a big glass. I didn’t ask for any size, but they gave me the big one. Even T has a little one. After one and a half beers, I’m pretty buzzed. I’m also exhausted from driving. It’s a pretty god-damn great feeling, to be honest. A delicious feeling. To be this tired, to drink a beer, to be in a strange place that feels far away from home. I feel very relaxed.

DURANGO, Colo. — It’s a nice hotel, lodge-like in exterior and décor, in a town that feels remote and far away from home, yet it’s a busy town, way up in the mountains. We are the visitors, the strangers. For us, this is a one-time destination, a stop on the way to somewhere else. For the other occupants of this hotel, it’s an annual destination, a reliable getaway.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The say the next tram boards in 10 minutes. Ten minutes later, they tell us the next tram boards in 10 to 15 minutes.

RICHMOND, Va. — Testy docents say backpacks belong in front or beside my body / A NEW INTERPRETATION OF “HAMLET” IS SHAKING UP THE THEATER SCENE / I wish you were here to tousle my hair

RALEIGH, N.C. — Imagine a giant inflatable holiday decoration, the kind that people set on their lawns – Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny – and how they’re pumped with air and how that makes them swell until they almost burst.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Beam-I is a narrow red walkway that reaches a terminus. There is room for one person at a time to walk single file to the end. Imagine “walking the plank,” but with barriers on either side.

RALEIGH, N.C. — First, I turned a corner and saw “Large Spindle Piece” and “No Fuss.” I learned from a sign that THIS SITE WAS DEGRADED AND DEPLETED BY ITS USE AS A PRISON FARM.

REST STOP, Va./N.C. — Outside the car, several squirrels run and play. One squirrel sits atop the blue-lidded recycling bin, surveying her domain. A few of the squirrels hop over to the doors. They stop and wait. “They’re hungry,” says the Poet. “They demand we feed them.”

SHORT PUMP, Va. — It has been threatening to rain all day. I write threatening, as if the sky is a big man with puffed-up chest and wild eyes staring down and shouting, “I’ll fucking do it. I’ll fucking rain on you.” The occasional drizzle is spit flying from Big-Man-Sky’s mouth.

SARASOTA, Fla. — If not for the clown, I would call this propaganda. I would call it blatant ideology shaped by a homogenous community’s idea of family. The commissioners of this piece had in mind an ideal.

LANCASTER, Pa. — A poem inspired by Central Market, the oldest continuously operating farmer’s market in the United States.

BOSTON, Mass. — Beside the trunk of the Golden Weeping Willow, the dog gnaws the king’s bones. / He wears away slowly and thoroughly the brittle bones. / He cracks a rib. / He splits the rib into shards and chews deliberately to soften the sharp edges. / He savors the flavor. / He wags his tail.