"I fell like death, wrapped in a sock and thrown to the dogs."

I am driving right now
here, pen paper steering wheel
accelerator
I am driving
and this is my first driving poem ever
-not the first while driving
-not the first about driving
but the first while driving about driving
at any second my life could end
I could be finishing a sentence
I could be ending a word
when.... In a flash
brake lights
eyes close
safety belts and gasoline
cigarettes and fast food
end

but not now, not yet
the clouds are gray
above the Chippewa river
ten minutes ago there was a rain
I know
as the road is wet
still
and my windshield wipers
are just erasing tire tracks
from the jeep ahead
I really need better taste in music

it is the beginning of fall
over Alamondo rd
its dirt
the colors have not fully changed
mostly brown and evergreen
give it three weeks
I should make this drive again
in that time
when oranges and reds flicker
like candles glowing in the forest

this road is straight
billboards still selling
still working,
I do, I really do need
a six dollar coffee
and sexy new blue jeans
I really do!

power lines run with me
over pumpkins, squash, and deer corn
I love Michigan!
nine mile says hello, from the fire station
this is going to be beautiful in three weeks

I want a girlfriend
so I can take her to
Chippewa state forest
and Nease memorial church
and car and credit connection
or Pangborne marine
or S.A.I.S. excavating
and take a Sunday drive down
Fitzhaugh St.
or Ashman rd.
and Rodd St.
-enough
I just want a girlfriend so I can get laid

the freeway is wide open
as the American flag
flies above the metal stamping plant
right lane ends
bet you didn't know
what U.S.A. stand for
well.... that too....
but, united steelworkers of America
the sky is opening up
I see blue
I sure hope my tires don't explode.