Waco by Adam Amberg and Illustration by Tanner Freeman

June 6, 2012 by verymandy | 4 Comments

This graphic by Tanner Freeman illustrated the poem “Waco.” “Waco,” by Adam Amberg, appeared in Bohemia‘s April issue. Adam and Tanner are nominated for a Bohemia Award.

Waco

The sun sets on I-35

like the sky’s closed eye-lid
and even at this hour

the caffine-watchful pupils
of hairy truckers, hauling
God-knows-what, but probably cattle,

over bridges over rivers,
who soon find they’ve reached
only the Gulf of Mexico, dart
from exit to exit. Old veterans

eaten by war and locusts lounge
under the highway. They squint
with something horrible beneath
their gaze, scouring the horizon
for their next happy fix

and for all this, I close my eye
on the city, casting on her
the shadows of tomorrow,
till she turns on her lights,
which are the smoldering embers
of a little city whose fire won’t die.

A. K. Amberg moved to Waco six years ago and hasn’t looked back since. Born in Nashville and raised in Houston, he finds the quirkiness of Central Texas far more poetic than any of his previous surroundings. He has published poems in both the UK and the US, including his own book of original poetry and prose, The Least of These.

Tanner Freeman was born in Fort Worth, TX however has spent the majority of his life in Waco. He recently graduated from Abilene Christian University with a Graphic Design degree. Most of his interests are rooted in real love for getting outside and seeing the world, such as driving to Austin for the afternoon or teaching ESL courses in Mexico City. He has a fascination with the Americana of the sixties and seventies, which comes out in his work. Freeman and a friend, Taylor Smith, have started a design company here in Waco called Deuxtone.

About these ads