Maybe all it took was a little smoke
a cup of coffee and a 1 am road trip
to really understand Tom Waits’
“Heart of Saturday Night”.
I’ve often felt like 3 AM was a specific sweet spot
for listening to Neil Young
on late night intrastate drives–
the sloppier the production the better.
I once enjoyed those late night excursions.
But those were much safer times.
My mission tonight was to get home undetected
by any potential predator–policeman or otherwise.
Caught in a storm
and each passing 18 wheeler
provided an additional challenge
of avoiding any major splashback
that could result in a wreck.
Its not like I’m afraid to die.
I am not.
But the anxiety of having projects unfinished
or things left unsaid, does get to me sometimes.
Which made this weekend that much sweeter
having had the chance to be reminded
what it is like to spend time
with a woman who was equal parts,
funny, smart, kind and beautiful.
So much I wanted to tell her:
like how being with her is so easy
and that the reason for my silence
Is that I’m so impressed that she turned out to be
as remarkable of a person as I originally thought she would be.
That I respected her ability to recognize
how unique and how special she really was.
But I certainly could say none of these things
if I didn’t make my destination.
No matter how grumpy tomorrow looked for me
I could still wake up,go to work, and eat my Kolaches
if I survived.
Otherwise, they’d be free game to the investigating authorities
for whomever was brave enough to sweep
the glass off the crushed box of pastries,
and take a huge bite of a sausage puff
without a trace of irony in their face.
But it was too dark.
Too late.
And too rainy to entertain such fantasies.
I’d better focus on the road.
There was another trailer trying to pass on my left.
~Edward Austin Robertson
Nuclear Polio Vaccination 
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