Utah is a map of the world From green to red cross-hatched with canyons So deep you'd think they'd gotten to the bottom of things. Mountains topped with snow in June, Drawn on paper folded ten thousand times By a baroque divinity in love with complication. A crumpled page from Picasso's sketchbook. A cluster of suburbs on a highway pendant That dangles from Idaho toward Las Vegas, Keeping the world at bay with weed eaters, Riding mowers, an arsenal of chemicals, Sprinklers running full tilt at midday In defiance of the sun. Published in Petroglyph Fall 2000. © 2000 Steven Schroeder Page maintained by Steven Schroeder | updated 27 april 2009