diesel breathing

i found a red light that turned to green
the moment i sped past

that hour’s train thundered above as
i threatened the glossy paint
against the stone trestle
of the railroad bridge

the fog of thinking dissolved on that
cold road as I watched it
consumed underneath,
seventy miles per hour
pulling the yellow snake
across the black

i thought about abbreviations
the way you squeeze otherwise respectable words
as you punch out the order for a classified

i had listed it all for sale,
this car, without purpose, was last,
1owr hi-MPG turbo for $10,6
82k, all pwr, no accd., neg.

my mind pretended to dwell on boarding passes, mail forwarding
or the curious way that envelopes taste if you lick them
but her recent words stilll rang in my mind

a yellow sign blinked by
rating the road for twenty

i spun the wheel on a mountain turn
to feel a leap of fear
in my deadened heart

the tires, liberated by physics
spun against grass and gravel and grace
our mass rose up against the ground,
listing with the curve

strangely,
life didn’t slow
the tires regained the asphalt
the wheels shook

the rendezvous was called off
the smallest of things held

i thought perhaps i should treat this machine better
this diesel breathing woman was
the only love in my short life
who hadn't betrayed me

colored lights appeared behind
brighter than resurrection
a man of authority emerged from the blinding scene

an hour dissolved under his footsteps
he asked questions a philosopher would fear
“why, how”
i did not know. the lucid moments against god had passed
all i had was my fragmented reality

somehow i escaped that moment
i escaped responsibility,
turned the key to roar away

some dozen miles later,
i found my temporary home

i sat there
listening to the crinkling of the cooling engine
as frost climbed the glass
and thought about
life, a little
but mostly,
the mundane,
the transfer of title tags & registration