Pops bought a ‘78 Pontiac,
a firebird-stamped gold bar
on wheels, spontaneously,
after a conversation with
an aunt’s friend—so it went.
In this country, you can
start a trip from any city
heading in the direction
of your destination, certain,
reasonably, of arriving whole
and needing to piss. A pit
stop in Olive, California is a
good joke the way my dad
put it. Hold it long enough
and a song takes the mind
off messing the leather up.
Sunflower seeds in a Big Gulp
cup. The most beautiful road
in America. One sweeping
hand steers. Sun-drenched
surfers slice mythology.
The pavement swerves
as planned. The lines blur late
no matter which window
the ocean can be seen from.
It’s bedtime for all the birds
with a hundred or so miles
to go. The gasman in Bend,
Oregon asks, How much?
and before I unbuckle, I’m off
to the races, knowing rarely
do we stop in The Dalles.
Having forked in Weed,
we slope past valleys on
the way to our valley, in which
non-citizens make the land
profitable. My great-grands
leased from the Yakama
before the war—so much
war has shaped what I know
and don’t know. The country
roads, lined with crates of stone
fruit, never returned the interned,
so a different kind of migrant
ensued. Not knowing the dust
carried on the golden hour, I
trap grasshoppers in mason jars
and walk away because I can.
Added: Thursday, January 30, 2025 / Used with permission. The poem first appeared in "Somewhere We Are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings" (edited by Reyna Grande and Sonia Guiñansaca, HarperVia, 2023).
Photo by Troy Osaki.
Dujie Tahat is a Filipino-Jordanian immigrant living in Washington state. They are the author of three poetry chapbooks: Here I Am O My God, selected for a Poetry Society of America Chapbook Fellowship; Salat, winner of the Tupelo Press Sunken Garden Chapbook Award and longlisted for the 2020 PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry Collection; and Balikbayan, finalist for The New Michigan Press / DIAGRAM chapbook contest and a Center for Book Arts honoree. Along with Luther Hughes and Gabrielle Bates, they cohost The Poet Salon podcast.
Image Description: Dujie Tahat wears a green beanie, white tee shirt, jeans, and a yellow jacket slung over one shoulder, covering most of their body. They stand on hill, surrounded by grass, trees, and clouds in the sky.
