Processional—Jen Rose Yokel

"We make a clumsy march, these machines..."

Jen Rose Yokel is a poet, writer, and spiritual director. Her words have appeared at The Rabbit Room, She Reads Truth, and other publications, and she is the author of two poetry collections. She is also the co-founder of The Poetry Pub, an online community for poets. Originally from Central Florida, she now makes her home in Fall River, Massachusetts with her poet/professor husband Chris, their rescue dog, and an assortment of books and houseplants. Her latest book, Beneath the Flood, is available now from Bandersnatch Books. You can find her on Substack at Alongside Journal or on Instagram @jroseyokel

Processional
Jen Rose Yokel

We make a clumsy march, these machines
gleaming in the winter sun,
a line of old sedans,
hulking SUVs,
and dirt-crusted trucks.

And the leader of our patched-up parade,
long, stern, and black
plods on

led and followed
by flashing lights.
“There was a time when people pulled over,”
Dad says,
and on the two-lane back roads
they still do.

Work trucks, like beasts of burden,
and old beaters with fading paint jobs
slide over and stop
where the dust blows up,
scatters,
settles,
marking us all.

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Photo by Artin Bakhan on Unsplash