Rob S. Friedman
February 2022
21st-Century Western Dream
Leaving Twin Falls
Coming down off the hills of southern Idaho, two pastures glisten from refracting snow traces. The absence of cattle, of tracks and tumbleweed makes the emptiness harsh unlike the pastures just miles due south, just short of Jackpot, Nevada where the sun has cleared whatever snow had idled on the lustrous green field bounded by a river that feeds the grassland, which feeds the cattle which feeds the cattleman’s sons and daughters and your sons and daughters.
Employee of the Month
Jackpot is cold this morning, like all mornings in some way. In Barton’s Club 93 parking lot the wind rides up my thigh and down the strings of my hoodie, pink and stained and missing the sequined S in STAR. Boot heels sink into the slush of one parking spot after another on my way into work, where the croupier is distracted as a glint of daylight pulses once and disappears behind me.
High Times
I back my rig into the lot at Mona’s Ranch, where my trailer won’t block their wind-worn sign and its symmetry with the others is somehow sublime. Inside, the barroom banquettes reek of oily Naugahyde. I doff my Cattleman’s Crease and look past whoever Mona is that day and mumble my desire. She choreographs the sisters’ entrance to the foyer. This troop of runaways, meth-heads, and single moms can’t conjure a cure for me.
Losing
I tug my uniform on inside the employees lounge at Barton’s and check my nails. I want to keep their eyes on my fingers as they grip their cards and scuff the felt hoping they don’t bust. They lean in, their weight at the edge of the table, waiting for the right card to turn, or sitting tight, ready for this daughter to lose.
Southerly
We stay on 93. Long-haulers split off east and west where Wells meets 80. Players mark their time in Jackpot, while truckers sound their horns and tip their hats to fare thee well their brothers. Ely awaits us, then Pioche and Caliente, where the Meadow Valley Wash glances off the highway. We head west, then south, collapsing into 15 near Vegas, where the Jackpot Star cannot go and Mona’s Ranch has no purchase.
Rob S. Friedman 