Small Town Breakdown

I'll run the red lights tonight. Laugh at the service engine light. Blare crowded notes, and scream until the rancor in my chest destroys the windshield. I've been driven out. Driven mad. And, I'm pulling out the stitches- The mask that has been hiding the broken visage. Rotten and bold. I have no direction. Just a heavy foot, and nothing to lose. It's just a small-town breakdown. These winding back roads are serpents coiling around my resolve, deciding whether or not I'm prey. I will not flinch. I lean into the S turn and downshift into 3rd and pile everything I hate onto the accelerator. I don't bother watching the tachometer. I can feel the red line in my bones. This engine and I are bound. Hungry machines in need of speed, and inevitable salvage. I come to a red light, right behind an officer. I'm in neutral. Tempted by the fury of my past to blow by the cruiser and see if they can catch me. But, my stomach churns. That officer has more important things to do than play cat and mouse with a madman who wants to burn. The light turns green. I watch as "IN GOD WE TRUST" becomes smaller and smaller. I turn in the other direction. Light up my tires. Trusting in nothing but the coarse reality of shattered limits. -James Kelley 2018