A Car Left Casper, Wyoming, One October Evening...

A car left Casper , Wyoming,

one October evening

before time struck midnight

on the driver and his passenger:

They departed from where the passenger is exiled from,

yet he hitches brief daydream forays back --

but the beauty of its time and place

disowns like cold pavement

to a stranger

Still, the exile’s meditations drive him to

reunite with his old streets in his former

neighborhood (his coming of age)

during restless slumber and yearning

wakefulness of an unresolved past

loves never explored

passions never expressed

Now, Casper, Wyoming, holds the driver

captive: the bitter harvest of his daily toils.

For he fashions mindful escapes from the cold

and drudgery of isolation and dead ends in this

current existence…

He looks forward to other lands in

his heart. This venue doesn't infect his marrow

like it does the exile’s

The import hurries them away into the dark of a

starry night...while a passing convoy of hoppers

makes the city’s rails squeal out in helpless captivity

Only the limits of speed, mating with reckless abandon

delay their journey south

The driver and passenger ponder ghosts...

The captive blocked from seizing bigger opportunities

The exile frozen in his lot of Fate

They simultaneously pass the time thinking

out loud...

The captive envies the older’s crafted adventures elsewhere;

The exile bemoans the younger's established residence

that could've been his own...

Two dramas, but the same drive,

they share space and direction

for miles and miles on cracking pavement

as the dashboard blares out jams,

softly glowing forth, rationing out warmth

The End