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
harried freeway drive
stress in the morning
stress in the evening
tension in my back
waiting for a crash
race car drivers
stressing me out
motorcycles
sirens flashing
semi trucks
traffic stops
terrified
freeway
tension
car
When you're in a rush almost every light is red
Part of the problem is not wanting to get out of bed
Fooling around and doing everything at last minute
Rush hour isn't rushing when your out there in it
Some things feels as if it requires too much time
Stopping on a dime isn't happening at stop signs
The normal speed limit all of a sudden is too slow
Most times you're patient but this time you got to go
Each minute of the hour becomes so precious to you
When rushing you want everyone to share your view
You're wondering how did this start in the first place
A seemingly well paced morning that turned into a race
sirens on freeway
road noise is an annoyance
traffic backed up now
gawkers don’t watch road
impatiently inch forward
dreary hour wait
accidents happen
drivers are irritable
wheres the empathy
Oh
to be
a rock
guitarist
Oh
to be
forever
young
Oh
to travel
beyond
the fret board
Oh
to revel
in Heaven
strung
(Listening To Jeff Beck: December, 2023)
It is the Indianapolis 500, I am in the lead of course.
My car has the power of more than a buggy and horse.
Wait! Did that car just pass me? Racing for me is not a whim!
I am irritated and peeved, so I catch up and overtake him.
I hurry to not only catch up, but leave him in my dust.
His old jalopy is not pretty, and has a back fender of rust.
Hey wait! Cars pass on the left, they pass on the right.
They pass down the middle, it’s fight team, fight fight.
This is a challenge and I am more than ready to win.
I streak down the interstate highway with vigor and vim!
You can’t catch me! I yell as I pass everything on the road.
The cops are chasing me now, maybe winning is going to get old.
Salvage yards hand me down
throttle starters transmission brawls
Clutch drive spent wheels ravages
Four-wheel drive, five-speed Savages,
all this going on in the Salvage junkyard tow yard
Just 500 feet from the freeway?
2/21/22
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr.2022©
The winter darkness falls before the day
Has run its course, long ere the eyes of those
Who labor seek surcease from weariness.
The home-bound traffic winds its halting way
Beneath the moon-bound Evening Star and slows—
A mess.
And so I sit with promises to keep,
Ensnarled within a concrete wilderness
As news and music streams from radios.
At last the exit home—to eat, to sleep,
And rest.
In a town where one’s car MUST IMPRESS
I am in a permanent state of undress
Without said car
I don’t go far
When I leave my lair
I walk everywhere
There are cats I greet
Even a human or two I meet
I have become fit
Bit by bit
My temper no longer frays
On L.A.’s “free”-ways
I am unlikely to injure or be injured
By drivers bothered and bewildered
Surely my mandatory health insurance account
Deserves a discount?
In this era of experimentation,
unforeseen boulders form
in the road of progress.
Low interest rates
encourage the right hand to invest,
while the left speculates unnoticed.
Governments spend money before the ink dries,
purchasing assets, forcing lines on economic charts,
following virgin protocols.
Skewed markets seem normal,
kurtosis no longer matters
in this 21st century laboratory.
Social scientists join the parade
with shutdown demands
to end a pandemic.
Boulders become barriers,
traffic crawls,
and anxiety replaces speed.
Fuel runs low,
compensated by steep descent
into a mist blocking the destination.
No one knows where this new turnpike,
with untested exits and unmarked lanes goes,
but drivers follow large road signs overhead.
so annoying
when a wreck happens
on the interstate
I always watch the semis
When they vie for the fast lane
I do too
Using their highway prowess
Except this time two were wrong
They led me into a lane that did not move
Six cars were off,
All apparently hitting each other.
A Chevy comes roaring up from behind
The driver must be good.
The front end is all bashed it
As he passes me I see his back end is all bashed in too
I give him as much room as I can
Admiring the way he slid into a tiny spot made for half a car
An idiot driver cut in front of me on the freeway
Just because they did not get the big picture
I have to slam on my brakes?
Could I let it slide?
Apparently not.
I threw my hands up like “what the heck?”
She gave me the bird.
I gave her one back.
She gave me two birds.
Who was driving there?
I chased her down the freeway,
We are both honking now, acting six-years-old.
She is driving so fast it is utterly ridiculous.
I can barely keep up with her.
Luckily I am driving my husband’s Mercury.
You can go one hundred in it, and it feels like fifty.
I was horrified when we both turned off at the same ramp.
Slunk back a bit when we again headed the same direction.
Was shocked when her turn signal showed me the parking lot I wanted.
We both ended up in front of the same restaurant, and it was not open yet.
“That was FUN!” she shrieked at me.
“Did you know it was ME?” she asked.
I gave her a big hug. My best friend, Susan, had apparently gotten a new car.
“Of course!” I lied.
Highway swing
Highway dance
Swing in and out
Swing carefully
Out to stay alive
Out there on the freeway
Alive still
Alive to swerve
Swerve all about
Swerve cautiously
Still moving
Still dancing
About to smash
About to crash
Moving slowly
Moving not at all
Smash heard
Smash song
Slowly turn
Slowly open eyes
Heard metal
Heard brakes
Turn and look
Turn and feel sad for them
Metal crumpled
Metal jumbled
Look away
Look toward
Crumpled car
Crumpled truck
Away I go
Away from this sad
Car speeds up
Car racing soon
Go on truck
Go on car
Up a hill
Up toward clouds
Truck screeches on brakes
Truck slams them hard
Hill so daunting
Hill so steep
Brakes hold
Brakes keep us in place
Daunting day
Daunting and slow
Highway Dance
Highway Nerve
Nerve of steel, we drivers, now
Dance of highway, daily dance
Daily rushing,
Anger on freeway,
How can we slow this down?
Daily rushing.
Clenching my gum teeth,
Level 10 Hostile
Daily rushing
Lower back tensing
Is work worth it?
Dangerous deeds camps at night in the mountains
with each thought a flickering flame
Those that dare to play the game a burning soul
a crisp desire broken fingers in a glove
hand in hand driving the freeway of love
I kept the windows down this binz in sport
her was short but it was blowing around
her jeans jaded holes around her knees
it was a sprinkle a mist
driving into a fog for a kiss at dawn
with the music on I slowed
lost in a circle that purple ink on her left breast
glowed
I drove across a lawn
my lights were not on
her purple lips
her swirling hips
her door popped open
I am still hoping
for that kiss at dawn
So I am still driving on the freeway of love.
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