Rilke on the 10

 

Surely, giving the finger

to the man tailgating you on Highway 10

is poetry too, and should be counted

 

where they count such things

in Rilke’s heaven.

Among my tropes and ruses

 

and the CD playing today’s road music

and the ominous signage for Pasadena

looming ahead of me like the SAT

 

there’s room for my own version

of “you must change your life”:

You must change your lane.

- Karen Chamisso