“Fire hydrants all come from different towns
and states they intrigue me,” her email notes.
She’s photoed a red one with paint-chipped crown,
stamped “Oskaloosa Iowa”, eight bolts
in its grass-covered base. A new nation
ago that town hubbed coal mining. No more.
Named for a Creek princess, translation
“black rain”. She snapped another, crumbling core
of pale blue, marked “Albertville Ala”, once
Cherokees’ homes. She’s captured these on her
“walk lovely”, short ramble from her “stay home”
captivity. How we find beauty where
we are, not where we want to be these days.
Respect its existence. Offer it praise.
Roger Armbrust
March 27, 2020
