In Middlebury, Vermont
They congregate weeknights in the parking lot
of the hotel, backing in their pickup trucks
beside each other after a day’s work at local
construction sites. Without a thought about
disturbing guests in overlooking rooms, they
settle into their routine, raucously reacting to
each other’s tales as the chef among them grills
hamburgers and hot dogs on a portable barbeque
perched on the tailgate of his vehicle. I think
of going down to ask them to tone it down,
and I do, but they greet me as one of them,
offer me a brew and some of their cooked fare.
Jim Tilley has published three full-length collections of poetry and a novel with Red Hen Press. His short memoir, The Elegant Solution, was published as a Ploughshares Solo. His poem, “On the Art of Patience,” was selected by Billy Collins to win Sycamore Review’s Wabash Prize for Poetry. Four of his poems have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. His next poetry collection, Ripples in the Fabric of the Universe: New & Selected Poems, will be published in June 2024.