I’m driving to therapy
after finishing work
I’ve been awake
for twelve hours already
I’m worried I’ll never publish again that the world is going to end
and that I’m making no progress
in anything at all
there is construction
on the highway
two lanes turn to one ahead
cars are backing up
and beeping
and the taillights
are growing bright
as the sun sinks
behind the mountains
I put the car in park
and I look out the window
the clouds look like
the clouds in paintings do
heavenly rippled
impossibly soft perfect
and they turn colors
above the traffic
and I watch these colors
and I think maybe
I could sit here forever
watching the sunset’s
soulful progression
maybe I could wait here forever
in this mass of impatient metal
as the day dies
over the mountains
but it does not go without a fight