humanity

here is more of the blacktop circus from a little different perspective.  i provide a deeper explanation at the end of the poem ...

my windshield cracks with a morning glint of head-on glare,

though I manage to see your feigned indifference.

a sideways glance lands sharply on my dash and

I stuff it in the glovebox with my out-of-state parking tickets,

covering leftover knapkins from a happy meal.

you imagine that my slackjaw gaze

begs for your attention while you float along in your vanity sedan.

you think it’s you,

or maybe even your car that I want, with its speedtrap promiscuity,

armani styling, and leather upholstery like fresh-buttered bread.

if it were given to me, it’s true, I would take it.

but I’d stand it in the driveway to glisten and fidget;

an impatient runway model with smeared mascara

while I, ignoring pomp, dig bulbs in the dirt of my garden.

my thought was humanity as I pulled alongside,

this road at sharp sunrise, lost, pan-handling for directions amidst these

mundane, vapid, pre-disco boomers.

commuter bumpers hooked in traffic, 8-tracks hooked in pop.

for this half second, before you snapped your look away,

you and I were equal distance from the sun and I thought

you might advise which high roads would take us to adventure.

I never thought it mattered what one drove;

my semi full of elephants trumpeting wildly,

late for the bigtop party.

-------------------

this poem is about a friend who drove an elephant semi for circus kirk in the seventies. he also played euphonium in their band. for the most part, he was adept at asking directions and an expert at u-turns with a trailer loaded full of giants.