I dodged shreds of big-rig tires
melting at the edge of the freeway
and fire lilies, their pistil carousels
can make you vomit if you eat them,
but why would you?
Maybe dogs or deer or someone lost
in a wildlife preserve striking out
wth a plastic fork.
Everyone wants to be first, a game of
going in and out the window
driving 80mph in the fast lane
where down the road
birds hop beneath parked cars
and a man taps a soda can
to his own aluminum beat.
I crossed the Mississippi twice, billboards
of personal injury lawyers called out to me.
The airport smells of piss and loss and grease.