One Mile An Hour


we drove one mile an hour

in a car that we borrowed from a neighbour who was in Milan

studying dinosaurs... and had a long conversation

about the history of developing forms of communication

and where we were going


as we drove one mile an hour

every block shared a songbook that rolled by the windows rolled down

much like a movie reel... that wasn’t a movie, though

every character delivered a lifelike portrayal

and each lived a century


while we drove one mile an hour

with a red bumpersticker giving props to a departed president

who spoke of our changing age...


we had a strange sense of purpose

a revolution per minute... like the pavement remained thusfar unseen

we could have kept documents


but we drove one mile an hour

letting rain gather faster than the wipers arced across the windows

similar rainbows... might form in the sunlit sky

but the moon was our compass as her stars peeked through veils of clouds

and heat from the streetlight glow


as we drove one mile an hour

in a car that sat parked in a driveway lined with recycled news

oilstain birthmarks... gears like clockworks in the mind of the highway

and that old rocky rhythm which belongs only to countrysides

seemingly endless winds

we pass by a thousand times



Words by David Delmar. ©2001



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