Scott LaMascus
Migration Dread, Kingfisher County, Oklahoma, 1978
Monarchs again cover the house and trees;
They’ve found our island in a sea of wheat.
On each brick and leaf, stained-glass wings flutter
Until the migration lifts off on a breeze.
They appear and disappear as the dew.
Last year, another marvel followed when we woke
To hordes of moths entering windows and doors,
Eclipsing our lights and dusting the air.
Vanquished, we fled the opened house and
Returned later to find only their dead.
Scanning the horizon, I long for a cloud
Or sign to interpret both miracle and plague,
A habit on these plains carved out of someone
Else’s promised land of milk and of honey,
Awaiting the exodus or else some truth
To explain the comings and goings here.
Back to Issue X…
Scott LaMascus is an educator, writer, and public humanities advocate in Oklahoma City. As director of the McBride Center for Public Humanities, he received a Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to host guest writers who have included poet Robert Pinsky, novelist Marilynne Robinson, playwright Henry David Hwang, and activist Bryan Stevenson. His interests include land reform, social justice in rural communities, and the things people love that transcend their differences. His work is forthcoming or available now at Red Ogre Review, Oklahoma Humanities, Teleios, and Half and One.
