Two Swedes

We traveled America, two Swedes
chewing a harvest of gum,
burgers the circumference of the earth,
collecting proof there was an end
when ketchup ran off the sides;
and in Fresno free raisin packets
stacked in a motel lobby and coins
shone at the bottom of the pool,
inviting lucky tourists after a day
of rental-car driving; I learned
sunny-side up, relishing the vision
of the word, but never could grasp
if it was ice tea or iced tea
that flowed from the pitchers
of kind waiters and waitresses
this first pilgrimage to America.