as I drive on the highway
is watching
the black skid marks
on the road ahead of me.
I fight the absent-minded
impulse
to follow their aberrant
trajectory.
Hypnotized,
my eyes follow
their smooth arcs
and abrupt sooty ends,
and I wonder
what was the driver thinking
just before
it
happened.
Some trail
off the road
in tight,
unpredictable curves,
while others
fade gracefully
suggesting
a narrow escape,
and others still
lead
nihilistically,
willfully
into the cement
guard rails.
Scared back
into the moment
I intentionally
loosen my grip,
as I keep my eyes
fixed straight ahead
ignoring
all the wrong moves
I have been
fortunate thus far
not to make.
I really remember those skidmarks... they are so less common here in Sweden, but I always wondered why they were there... they seem so frequent so they can hardly be fatal all of them
ReplyDeleteI really get this. I have a poem about being preoccupied with pulling the emergency brake while driving fast. I promise not to do it in real life!
ReplyDeleteInteresting, how one can get hypnotized, while driving long stretches on highways, and the disastrous effects, it can have upon us. I hope, your good fortune continues, for a very long time, Buddah, on your local highways.
ReplyDeleteSkid marks. What a contemplative look.
ReplyDeleteYes, scary to contemplate. And long drives can by hypnotic, which is dangerous. This is excellently described, and I'm glad the danger was avoided.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed them before but never been drawn to them. They do tell a scary story
ReplyDeletePoems they are, rashtags of destiny. These days I fret more the skidmarks in my BVDs.
ReplyDeleteWow! this is such a profound observation, and metaphor for life.
ReplyDeleteWhere I live, the young rednecks screech their monster trucks in circles that burn marks in the pavement, circle upon circle. Unbelievable tire abuse, not to mention dangerous. I especially like your closing stanza..........I too am grateful for some of the shenanigans I have managed to avoid.
ReplyDeleteI really like the bigger truths conveyed in this piece. To me at least, I feel like it is a warning not to be hypnotized by stories of disasters to the point the become omens instead of cautionary tales.
ReplyDeleteAlmost every black mark I see while driving sets my imagination off. You hit it right.
ReplyDeleteBack when I was young, not so often now, my blacks marks were the beginning of excitement, not the end. I still love to smoke the tires and make rubber when auto transmission shifts into second gear. I drive a Ford Mustang.
..
Those skid marks are cautionary tales. So well-observed.
ReplyDelete