there is
no music this
morning
an apparent
blown fuse
discovered
too late
has the drumming
of raindrops
and the rapid
fire swishswish
accompanying
a burgeoning
panic attack
standing water
drivers driving
too close
for these
inclement
conditions
swishswish
a spray of
briefly blinding
filthy water
blurred red in
a cataract of
precipitous hell

i am motionless
robotic
left foot
feathering
the gas
microadjustments
to the wheel
an invisible
tether between
the bumper of
the red van
keeping me at
an optimal distance

but in my head
i am screaming poetry
trying to drown
the images of
hydroplaning
being rear ended
the car crumpling
against the barrier
my head hitting
the window
a shower of cold
rain and suspended
fragments of glass
glittering in the
red glare of sudden
brake lights

clutching my phone
tight in my hand
if they find my body
they will find it
all my shitty lines
pictures of the kids

her frozen words

the parts of my soul
i gladly leave
to this dreadful world
as i try to force
my lungs to expand
outwardly glacial
inwardly broken
by contemptuous design