Feeling Small (from "A Slip Of The Tongue")

it is dark and I am driving,
feeling tired and trying to pay attention to the road.
the lanes are packed
bumper-to-bumper
and I fight to hold my spot as people pass and honk.

the stars light this highway, and beyond the mountains
the white light of the city burns like a flame in the night.

I feel small.
I am but a single person, with a single life,
a single family and a
single car.
my wife and my three boys are asleep,
and I adjust my mirrors to a better angle to see
this traffic coming at me.
so many lives, so many
stories. so many cars.
I feel crowded. I feel sick.
I feel invaded in my personal space.

these people, they are going
somewhere, like myself.
we have this in common, at least, to share this same road.

now they pass above me, across from me,
going in all directions.
trucks and cars
and faces and
blinding lights.

it is bad enough to want to get where I am going,
but this madness
is enough to make a man want to pull over and pant
for air.

it will still be two more hours until we arrive
at our destination,
and I adjust the rearview mirror again to see my three sleeping children in
the back.
their faces are gentle, not angry or urgent, and I am pulled away
momentarily
from the dizzying madness
of this
highway
traffic.

View Poem (posted 5:06 PM) 

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