This Is Where It Starts
Stephen Newton 
This is where it starts
a line about beginning
that also carries with it
the implication of place
as if the poem were a
roadmap with a circle
drawn on it for the
beginning of the trip
a long meander through
several watersheds and
time zones past farms
and factories trains and
smokestacks diners with
hot coffee and steam on
the windows and waitresses   
chewing gum until the end
approaches once again
circled this is it this is
where the poem ends


Tattoo Highway is published by the Department of English, California State University, Hayward. Editors & staff for this issue: Sara McAulay, editor & graphics; Kevin Ching, fiction editor; Rochelle Nameroff, poetry editor; Rosita Nunes, fiction, poetry, and PR.