A rolled up sweatshirt on the side of the road
looks like roadkill
The windows are down
and there is slobber marks splashed on the door
It's not from me
It's from my companion
I threw a banana peel into the bushes
Someone honks
I don't care
It will break down and rot
There is nothing like the wind of a warm fall day
blowing through my hair
I have relatively low stress
Not the person behind me
with the frazzled hair
and fists clenching their steering wheel
I can be late
I can lose my job
I can possibly live in the woods
That is a nice thought
I probably wouldn't last a week
All these people on the road
our eyes meet sometimes
Strangers trying not to crash
into each other
I wonder where they are going
Hopefully not to work
Two headed Blackbird
on a wire
Headed down the road
Past the corner
To no where
Be you ~
I'm not going to tell you what to do.
You're on your own ~ be creative
to care enough to find ways to please me,
to care enough to be...
to care...
yes...
I think that's the key word.
I want you to care.
About me.
About us.
I want you to
be in the moment,
be in the relationship,
be in the driver's seat.
Contribute
not just sit back and wait for cues.
You're not just along for the ride.
Be...
Care...
Be on top of your game.
Act like you care.
Give it all you've got
without holding back.
Like this is the real thing.
Like you want this to work.
Like you want this to be special.
Be consistent.
Consistently caring loving attentive.
Don't deviate from the script.
Love me like you mean it.
AP: 1st place 2025
Truck
TRUCK
haul things
powerful
before age sixteen
learned to drive on a farm
I thought I was really cool
“my truck is a tool not a toy”
moonlight turns raindrops
into snow globes on windows
reflections of us
late night driving in the rain
drowsy eyes drop into sleep
window cracked, white noise
lights flickering through the rain
my eyes flutter closed
Why did they name it a freeway to begin with
Honestly it doubles your chances of getting hit
Drunk drivers and those with road rage throwing fits
Constantly driving defensively to avoid a near miss
Are the ramp meter lights really controlling the traffic
It causes more confusion when an idiot drives past it
It's on this road that the impatient show themselves
Another reason the insurance comanies are high in their sells
People changing lanes like they're under the influence
Tailgaters are annoying and also drivers with no insurance
If an accident happens anywhere on the freeway
Artificial traffic builds from the nosey looking that way
Then when lanes aren't moving but yours starts to
Someone always dares to dash right in front of you
You also have those who try to cheat the carpool
Even break through the solid lines just to roll through
That freeway business can be too much for me
To avoid that madnes I rather take the street
Time has a way that breaks you down
As we age we fall victim to its plague
Can't out run it can't escape it
It comes and comes
Sneaks right up on you
Before you know it your 49 stuck in 1994
It's a complicated journey
Filled with curves and chaos
It flashes by like a thunderstorm
Loud and hard
Right up to the now
It's a whirlwind of change
Captivated by simplicity
It's the realization of the mistakes
And the corrections that come to light
It's a hard look at what you have become
And how much time you have left to fulfill your legacy
Makes you think what you have done
And how you got here
It's time knocking at the door
Like am unwanted guest
Wanting you to focus on what you will do next
How you will approach these next few years
It's the cause it's the meaning It's what makes you revailvent
In this unforgiving world
Just shine now light the day and let the shadows of yesterday fade
Right now time has the wheel but you can still drive the hell out of this life
A truckful of drunks
half-skunked boozers
gun racks in the back
unlucky losers
pulled up to the pumps
for a gallon or two
only high octane
tanked would do
then one had a bad itch
he started to scratch
wanted a smoke
and when he lit a match
the explosion was heard
three miles away
to arrive alive
do what they say
'Don't drink and drive'
and yes it's true
it could ruin your day
smoking is bad for you
SUNDAY MORNING DRIVE*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday morning drive~
no maps, no rush,
just the open road,
Dad at the wheel, our compass.
The ribbon of road unwinding,
under blue skies, past green fields
scent of hay and honeysuckle
wafting through open windows.
Flicker of neon,
screen door's creaky welcome,
a filling station oasis,
time suspended in dusty glass.
31 cents a gallon,
a number from another time,
we choose icy delights,
sodas fizzing on our tongues.
Barns lean into the afternoon,
narrow, one lane roads
slow-motion slide show,
bygone era, simpler time.
Sunday morning
mile by unchartered mile,
nowhere together,
a destination in itself (picture below)
*Note: I published this poem as a response to Haiku Shack’s weekly prompt (Sunday mornings) on April 14, 2025. This is my original poem. haikushackprompts.substack.com/p/weekly-prompt-on-sunday-mornings
So many murders it's overkill
but no one cares on Capitol Hill
and some are less concerned
it seems to me
with the killing of the living
(whose taxes pay the wages of sin)
to each U.S. Supreme Court employee
than that of the unborn
or perhaps I should be more forgiving
tho' lives are broken they remain unspoken
on the Washington White House South Lawn
but when someone says,
'Guns don't kill people, people do,'
it drives me to vexation
as I've never heard someone died
of a drive-by strangulation
Have you?
The hours have been driving me,
miles upon miles have sunk the sky,
Florida now hangs from distant cypress trees.
I almost miss the exit ramp,
This kind of waking and sleeping
is controlled by a ghost in my head.
Now I am eyes on the corners
where a flickering sunset
swings between interlaced trees.
Feet juggle over a low flying road,
while tense hands wind and unwind
on a sullen wheel.
This country road I know well, but the
fading day wants to paint me out
of my own map,
the familiar takes upon it
many alien shades.
Hours are melting back
to sleep with the Manatee,
I grind through the gears
swing on a hammock of
slow and fast moments.
The driveway dives out
of a side-show hedgerow.
Car-parts rattle into silence.
Benumbed bones lag behind
as the engine ticks on in a
somnambulant daze.
House windows watch curiously
as a stranger to Ohio
enters a place it calls home.
signs and warnings out and about
reminders for caution and safety on the roads
we know sunday drivers are a menace
apparently red squirrels drive slowly
while the black ones drive too fast
chipmunks on their bicycle hog the road
and it's not smart to tailgate skunks
it's always wise to mind your manners
so stay alert and be considerate
share the road ~ 'arrive alive' the motto
AP: 3rd place 2025
I procured a booth at ten fifty-nine
I was shocked the restaurant was open before eleven
Held the door open for the hostess
This gives me a bit of writing time
Cool down opportunity after my thirty-five minute drive
Driving is stressful these days
Possibly because I rarely do it
I did it for years
I am done doing it
gave up driving
When I retired
Long herbaceous desert
I ride your arid roads
perfect for catching up
word games, banter erupts
gay moments make new paths
time gently d r i f t s a
w
a y
Low flight that bends
The whorling sphere
In whistle-talk bounce-stops
Grass stains that streak
The dimpled-egg sitting white
March! March! On and on
Then climb the air-ladder
And peak in the blue
Slide! Slide! Down and down
The grade so swiftly weak
Impact flat, deepen, kick
And gently sit up
Arrogant
Free…
Again we meet and dimpled, smiling
You tease me openly to test
Your whistle-talk, marching, climbing
Sliding bounce-stop and the rest
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