the screaming
and sirens
made the evening
in magnolia
right about what
i expected
after four and a half
hours of driving
through bayous
where the trees
line the highway
brown stalks of
asparagus gone
to seed leaving
stripes of darkness
which no matter
how fast i drove
felt like a strobe
keeping me in place
losing ground even
as the miles tick up

now it is cold
the rains which threatened
finally released
as i ponder the drive
four and half hours
to my empty home
on sodden roads
through a an abundance
of shattered wonder
flaking behind me
leaving splinters
in the minds of those
temporarily caught
in my tempestuous wake