He has that Texas oil tycoon vibrato
this man who charters private jets
breakfasts in Saudi
slaps backs with Russian oligarchs
he possesses a certain
silver-haired gentility
his fingers always manicured
his suits well tailored
polishing his glasses like a TV father
and telling me he knows this is a difficult time
when he beckons
what am I supposed to do but
come
he runs his fingers through my hair
one palm flat on my head
and holds out a velvet pillow for my knees
like the classiest of peace offerings
I see derricks bobbing up and down
the lips of the desert parting
drill bits disappearing into moist earth
desperate for sucking
I see oil towers bursting
gushers out of the top
light sweet crude
black and sticky
rolling down my chin
before I even have a chance to swallow
Read More:
Rex Tillerson’s Maverick Oil Diplomacy [New York Times]
Rex Tillerson, ExxonMobil, and the separation of oil and state [Financial Times]
Ruth Crossman is a San Francisco Bay Area native whose work has appeared in Dryland, Full of Crow, and Lockjaw magazine. She holds a BA in Political Science from Columbia University and an MA in English from San Francisco State University.
Image of Rex Tillerson’s confirmation hearing edited from Wikimedia Commons.
