Iron

my doctor told me

the iron in my blood
was completely depleted and
i don't know how that's possible
living in this place of
rust red clay and
dead farm implements
piles of nails and ashes
where houses once stood
junked cars
dissolving in the bottoms of ponds
maybe i should go outside and
roll around in the dirt
swipe it across my cheeks
like war paint
maybe i should just eat it and
have done with it once and for all
pound the nails into my arms
take a swim in the rustwater
like a lockjaw baptistry
this place
hurts me then
heals me
wounds me and
works on my nerves
tries to kill me daily
tucks me in at night
this place
this place where my parents and
their parents and
so on for centuries have
sat and stagnated
lived
died and
become one with
the rust red clay
that will some day eat me too