you’d think those lights on the road are
cars coming your way
but mostly it’s highway fixtures
mounted on utility poles every mile or so
marking a frequency that breaks the darkness
paws is dozing next to me
she pays no attention to utility poles
i mention the gas station
so we can grab a bite to eat
i get a tail wag for an answer
she’s already peed on the floor mat
has incontinence
at around 11 a hitchhiker
says he has to be in Chicago in the morning
so he hops in and up comes his cutie
and i guess they may not go to Chicago after all
but they talk and laugh and read some poetry
then roll up a joint in the back seat
they fall asleep hugging each other
and i feel i have done something worth living for
paws sticks her head out the window
like she’s doing the math with the poles
tries to find some pattern in our journeys
and right then we get pulled over by these cops
who don’t care about poetry
or the frequency of the light
it’s just sobriety tests and papers
funny to think that after so many years
somebody at 02:47 in the morning
someplace here in upstate New York
wants to know my name
paws the hitchhiker and his cutie
we all look at the officer and think he is just
a highway fixture full of darkness
