And Sherman Burned It

1.

Riding away from Atlanta

lone traveler

in the heavy amber dusk



one more bag of meat

speeding among 8 teeming lanes

of steel, upholstery and dismay



bald rubber whirring

on the purple asphalt



the most action I've had in a year



weirdly sensing

the terrible

refractive otherness



everywhere



as the creeping

ember fringe

of my cigarette

burns me



yellowing my fingertips



the joke pre-apocalyptic wind

issues hard and fast

over the sideview mirror



whirling ashes,

peppering the confines

of my dark Nova



oh me oh my

driving away



hey, stubble chin

hey, worn out cotton shirt

hey, jack shack purveyor

hey, licker of black palms and rocks

hey, mute psychotic entity in the strip mall parking lot



who do you think you are, unnerving well-groomed

southern ex-sorority girls

in Japanese sedans?



go away



red tail light phalanx

drifting ahead



red

gas tank needle

creeping toward "E"



when I notice this

is when I come

to my senses



Where am I going?

Why am I going?



quick panic at the thought of how much money do I have

knowing it's not too much



but in the end it's enough



now pull into the Exxon

now self-conciously operate the pump

now make my way to the counter

now pay



now ride back out



onto the highway



into the night