Dane County

By Miles Varana

Into Wisconsin again: corn subsidies and
very nice people, ghost of Ed Gein wandering
the aisles of Piggly Wiggly. I was born here
the spring Tommy Thompson killed welfare,
learned to drink reading comics at bus stops,
always nod politely to queer Packer superfans
at Unitarian picnics. Wisconsin of my heart, who 
could ever not love you? You are the smooth, 
cold pebble atop Chicago’s curious tongue.

Miles Varana’s work has appeared in Typehouse, The Penn Review, and Passages North. He has worked previously as a staff reader and managing editor at Hawai’i Pacific Review. Miles currently works for WKBT News in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he does his best to be a good Millennial despite disliking tandem bike rides.