A Trick of Light

My eyes catch on the wisps of light
Reflected on the water�s surface.
I wonder what it would be like if I just didn�t
Turn the wheel with the road.

Everything is static.

How long would it take to fill my tiny two-seater?
If I went fast enough, could I make it to the other side?
If I had an oxygen tank, how long could I drive
Along the river bottom, collecting fossilized flower buds?

On this abandoned night, I best the speed limit by thirty miles.

Very past that curve I see the spark of a yellow sign;
It seems to me a photogene, a trick of light.
The streaming glow of oncoming cars blurs with water
Smeared ink in the incandescent night.

Reviews

[G. Cedillo]

a great somber read - reminds me a scene from Woody Allen's Annie Hall... i think its great how you've managed to be morbid yet not bitter, fanatic yet not cynical. I think it comes from your spare words and straight no-nonsense take on it all without any context or editorializing, i appreciate that sometimes and it really works well here most:
"I wonder what it would be like if I just didn't
Turn the wheel with the road."

The images are good too - "fossilized flower buds", i think i've used that one before, as well as "the incandescent night" i know that's a line we share.

"Very past that curve" ---> "very" here stands out broken odd.
and: "The streaming glow of oncoming cars blurs with water " -- i would move that earlier in the poem, or save it for the very end. whichever.

good read, thanks for sharing this - wow
- g-