Reading Postures 1

while driving down the mississippi, that road
along the river, and studying the shacks, a tune
comes on the radio, while cruising thru the
countryside, say, beside the waters, something
to sing along, if you arrive in a city, late at night,
& ask some of the strangers, if you sit at a counter
and pretend it's another time, if while driving you
can say you're a mechanic, while thinking about
the hills & the mountains, you can enter that place
under the vivid signs, and while agitating you think
about war, seeing the trees with the marked branches,
and wish you could handle a wrench, while looking
at your own body, particularly the wrists & thighs,
the most powerful parts of the tendons, lifting open
the window, the driver looks back into the mirror,
while getting out the map, the person next to you
whispers something about the horizon, and seeing
your watch is gone, you think about silence &
murder, your book lies in the luggage rack, the
ending is all about solutions, someone's cellphone
lets out a loud connection to the universe, while
conferring with her daughter, the mother watches
her own shadow thru the bathroom window, while
motionless on the highway, while you are on a bus,
with several others hoping to make it to a city,
the movie comes on, the driver begins a speech,
you take notes, the estimation of your time of arrival.

[In the city an old-fashioned sort of movie house
a character steps out of a plywood doorway
the avenues end in a certain line, a telephone]