and I should have been sad
but look my car has passed

you I drive ninety-five west
on I-80 in a who-cares lane

though now I am becoming
anxious in this fantasy as a

rebel driver I realize I
thrust the gas pedal at any

one who laughs with me and
sticks with me and touches

my hand and chest my heart
a thing that thrusts the pedal

until jammed accelerating
I never look out the window

to see landscapes blur
all the fields the same

 

(originally published in Active Muse, Winter 2019)