Coughing and wheezing
come thirty miles around
all-diesel engines come roaring
thru quiet sides of town

these rusted fenders,
the loose red ambers
of tail pipes
sagging and dragging ass
atop the hot top

a loose-nit stitch
of jizz and blood
road-kill dreams
& highway musings;

That weren't no Jake-brake, boys,
letting out that long sigh of relief
that was me
half-reeling from the evening
the rest from the ramblin life;
if I fall here, please
let me rest
for I'm done with this feeling
of loss and regret -

that feeling of sleeping
restlessly
throughout the night -
caught between Paradise
and Hell -
not knowing if the blade of a flower -
with all her beauty - will kill you
with her defenseless liberty,
or the blade of the knife
of one more depraved
and desperate than yourself

Empty ambition grows
hungry
as the body grows
older;
that is the tragedy of life - the mind,
cultivating the dream
the body fleeting at the prospect -

and the youthful masses
awaiting their turn ...