A Roadside Undressing

We live in an hourglass

Photo by Jake Weirick on Unsplash

There is a cone of light
when driving on dark roads,
between the trees where animal gems
and mosquito snow are the planets
and stars of the visible night.

We live in an hourglass,
a millennium ant colony
of mostly empty space.
There is only one highway

up north that runs down the way.
On a lonely night in my teens,
I stopped on the side of the road,
mountains smoking, the sky blazing

with aurora fire. I stood there
with the door open,
not another car passing on either lane,
and felt myself drop the bonds.

© Trapper Markelz 2021

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Dark adaption