land

a dry, dusty town in the West.

jobs moved to the city, grandma stayed with the kids

kids left after half of high school

jobs in the city dried up like the town, moved to the Big City

kids came back to a camper near the barn

raised sheep.



kids had kids, grandma died.

jobs in the Big City moved overseas

kids wrote code on the prairie.

shepherd's cabin with an antenna

0.3 river-coins for a leg of last-years Suffolk, smoked.



grandpa ranted, guns to the sky and a tear on his cheek

government came with a check and a slip

'shut up or die trying, sir'

kids rolled their eyes

kids' kids watched twitter hashtag their grandpa

and told grandpa everything was fine



kids' kids count drones in the sky

robot tractors outnumber the cows, finally.

kids' kids are tending the last hive, the last honeybees

"that honey's gonna be to die for"



a dry, dusty town in the West.

not hated, but not loved

bootstraps worn too thin for a comeback

but the kids are alright.