Cold metal fences vibrate softly when freight trains pass in the distance
Dried corn stalks rattle in fields stripped bare by autumn winds
Old barns lean gradually toward earth as if remembering their origin
Shallow puddles mirror entire skies in spaces no wider than a plate
Lone chimney stacks rise from houses burned down decades ago
Weathered driftwood bleaches slowly under years of coastal sun
Thin ribbons of highway stretch straight toward horizons that never get closer
Empty apiaries hum faintly with echoes of swarms long departed
Frozen laundry lines sag under weight of ice no sun can reach
Abandoned rail cars rust in place where sidings used to split the prairie
