hour 22

backing cont.

 ,into the night.
 I doze dreaming of deer jumping into the road 
with each jerk of the wheel as the man 
and Bill share a hazardous smoke.  
Delivered to a park we thank him as he drives 
on and we set up camp in a town we don’t know.  
A welcomed shower long warm leaving pools of 
grime and threats of a pixie cut as each strand 
of hair wrapped around another.
Two hours of brushing and another at dawn
Tears dried with kisses and layers of
Previously needed sun screen put on
East to Missouri with a traveling salesman
Wanting company drops us intersecting two interstates
Hitching not allowed, time to walk
Map check and decision to walk to the highway
But heat beyond expectations and even
With water the physical demands and too much and I pass out
Revived and tired return to interstate to walk to text exit
And an uninvited ride in a Cadillac Seville
Hold your packs in the backseat on your lap and groceries is in the trunk
Exit two more down, pass the golf course
Down a long drive to a mansion white and three car garage
We pull right in nose in to the washing machine and deep freezer
Hoping that’s not where we will end up
Call your families take a swim
Make an iced tea with seltzer water
Conversation and cocktails, BBQed burgers 
Call to son who goes to Bemidji for summer hockey camps
Call to the corporate jet but it’s busy
So we exchange contact information 
Get a ride to a campground at sunset
And have stories to tell about the World Trade Center banker
Another restful night just a few more home
From Missouri we hear more tales of those missing
Disappeared and presumed dead on the radio
Two three four cars pass as we walk thumbs out
Finally a low slung black beater pulls to side
We run, throw our bags in the trunk, hop in the back
Three man-boys loud tunes and smoke
Exhaust pipe fumes making us nauseated
Jokes about those disappeared and smokes shared
Across another state nearly done
Sargent in sargent buys us lunch at the counter
Been here longer than dirt missing his wife
Quiet plains turn dark and still
Sirens blow and we watch as cyclone
Twirls above and does the Kansas waltz
Returning home wrung out worn out
And thrilled to tell these thumbed tales
Summer school hitchhikers guide

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