A drive
The night sky is obscured by low clouds
MaybeHe feels the darkness just beyond the headlights
Of the car heading 60mph
Hands white against the soft dark wheel
Hearing the sounds that the broken white center line made
Ca-chunk, ca-chunk
There's no radio out this far and the cd player is broken
He felt that he was about half-way from, to
So he was no longer driving away, but not yet driving to
Caught in that dichotomy of terms
He remembered the raccoon
In the early morning hours it slipped under the fence to fish
Sitting still waiting for the coy to swim near the edge
With one swift continuous move
The coy would have been plucked out of the just this side of green water
And sent flying onto the edge of the plastic-lined filtered pond
Turned from a fashion entertainment into a meal
The flopping fish finished in bites with some of its head
And eyes left for the light of the morning
Ca-chunk, ca-chunk
Was he driving towards the morning or away from it
As he drove towards the darkness just on the edge of his eyes
Open, looking, but not really seeing
He could feel the stands of his life unraveling
Like pieces of a rope being pulled apart by a black bird
Picked up and flown away
Sat down and drove away