Portrait of My Mother as the Rush Hour Traffic Report
       

It’s murder on the interstates tonight.
From high above in Action Chopper Nine,
the gridlocked lanes seem filled with firelight,
like torches of a mob waiting in line.
The highways aren’t much better. Even routes
that only locals know—the two-lane street
behind the mall, the road that overshoots
your former high school—all ways spell defeat.
Why didn’t you leave earlier? Why
didn’t you plan ahead? We told you how
difficult it is, just getting by.
Action Chopper Nine can’t help you now!
What’s so great out there that you have to roam?
Be safe, be warm, don’t suffer, stay home.

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Copyright © 2012 Juliana Gray All rights reserved
from Roleplay
Dream Horse Press
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission