Fly-Over Country
Ian Rosales Casocot
FOR O THIAM CHIN
Nothing to hold back
The nothingness but
That prick of light, the needle-
Point into the numb heart
As you sail through black
Space, from “here” to “there”—
Unwalled, yet squeezed breathless
By the empty dark. The earth rides
Through a long dream of stars, knowing
Light only as differences of darkness…
–Rowena Tiempo Torrevillas, from “Fly-Over Country”
BEGIN WITH THIS: You have never been to Cedar Rapids. When anyone heads your way from Milwaukee or St. Paul or Madison for whatever reason, Cedar Rapids will most likely be their portal mid-sized metropolis in eastern Iowa—the last sprawling stretch calling itself a city, with buildings more than five-stories high, before they get to the tree-lined, grassy-knolled avenues o
