Marysville*

I wonder if Tommy jinxed it when he named it

After a woman, for all it might forebode.

He should’ve named it Cruseville, for himself,

Who opened a vein, and found the mother lode.

“Just like a woman, ain’t it?” the old men grouched.

Despite the gifts she gave, despite our labors,

She dried up just like Silver Creek in summer,

And now she is withholding all her favors.

*Marysville is a ghost town in western Montana, built and established around the Drumlummon Mine in 1876 by founder Thomas Cruse.

Allen is the administrative assistant for the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office. His second book of poems, "A Sunray Lands in Syria," is slated to appear in June 2021.