Night Driving - July 4 2022

 

Night Driving

July 4 2022

Cold and dark outside,

but here

in this cocoon of steel and glass

the blower is blasting heat,

and the dashboard's muted light

feels like company.

I can only see so far,

the blacktop unscrolling

a short distance ahead

in the headlight's harsh glare,

their cone sharpening

as the first drops start to fall.

Wet pavement

glistens with rain,

the glass begins to fog.

I watch a sleeping world

racing past,

oblivious

to the only car on the road

and its own small contained universe.

A ballgame from the coast

fading in and out.

A preacher,

his southern accent tinged

with brimstone and fire.

All-night jazz,

and a host

whispering into my ear

with a voice of blended Scotch

unfiltered cigarettes.

I am lost

in space and time

eyes drifting shut.

It will be a long night,

but the solitude is balm

and the speed hypnotic,

the thwack of the wipers

sweeping back and forth

as constant as a beating heart

keeping company with mine.