…and she had an aunt in Chicago, so off she went,
away from her feuding mother and aunt, to Chicago, to a
church, to a marriage, a kid …and rarely comes back to the Valley, and then, to see her mother, not her aunt ….
…and the family had ranch work in Abilene’s heat and cold, and a friend and she,
the only kids in the small school who spoke Spanish would get their hands slapped for “using it” in front of the teacher ….
Chicago woman has no regrets, no Valley for her, yes, Chicago’s freeways and cold and snow.
Abilene woman, well, she’s back here, but wants some High Plains snow and wind. She puts clothes on hangers in a never-stop-cleaning cleaners, her husband rips parts from used cars and her kids move to academics.
Chicago woman says, “I can take it here a week or so, then back on the bus.”
Abilene woman says, “Hot, so hot, so humid, but I’m here.”
Eugene “Gene” Novogrodsky, early July, 2011
