poem

 Strawberry Moon

Giant strawberry moon

Guiding all us weary

Drivers home from work 

None of us pay attention

To anything else

Eyes riveted to 

Its ominous pink glow 

The road disappears

Yellow lines dissolve

And headlights fade

We barrel down the highway

Past smoking heaps

Of twisted black metal

And bodies strapped to stretchers 

On graveled shoulders 

Feeding ourselves into the gaping maw

Of whatever cataclysm is to come 

But no one crashes

None of us get hurt

Direct deposit paychecks 

Continue unabated 

The stock market goes up 

You still look so young

Somehow we all 

End up home 

Alive and well

Halfway down the throat

Of ravenous beast

7/11/24