River Road

By Carol Muske-Dukes

This article appeared in the March 5, 2007 edition of The Nation.

February 15, 2007

So you had your share of summer nights,
Cars braking along the river road--
the world still asleep yet alive with threat,
the high grieving sound of acceleration.

Beauty grew too fast, like your body,
ungainly, unfaithful. Along the river road
there were nodding lilacs. Every intersection
dangerous. Your life dangerous, but you

didn't know then how damage is made. Not
just the flipped chassis, spun apart into
anecdote--but night's notched velocity
ascending through a blue reservoir of scent.

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About Carol Muske-Dukes

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