Sale Day at the Stockyards

Wind has whipped up the dust. The stockyard is shrouded in a haze the color of dirty sheep. Cattle groan complaints to the auctioneer while cowmen high step over patties and stream into the Corral Café.

J.L. Griffin hangs his head over a plate of today’s special: fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy.

Outside, he will help load livestock onto trailers, now parked at odd angles in the graveled lot. A dry leaf stuck in a pile of icy slush is flapping like a bird with a broken wing. He is wearing work clothes which he will not change till Saturday when he cleans up, slicks down his black hair and rides his bike to town.

—Jackie Smith

Jackie Smith is a grandmother, poet, and essayist. She is a senior in the Creative Writing Program at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, and she lives and writes in Tulsa.