life_is_a_highway tender_square the snowfall that was forecasted that morning never lasted. a few flakes of sky dandruff and that was all. in ohio, crumbling barns pledged their love for christ and the unborn. “the only way to god is jesus,” a billboards urged, between signs for shuttered antique malls. the day’s horizon was dishwater, all murk and grime mixing with desolate flatland. tractors tugged shanks through fallow fields in preparation for spring’s promises. smudged cincinnati buildings rose from the bluffs like wild mushrooms and traffic lagged on the cobb as a car died and blinked its hazards, the tawny river rushing below. i fantasized about life in a new city, and in my mind montage i knew wherever i landed i could hustle and make it without him. at the kentucky border, fog and rain descended, and the wipers rubbed frowns of spit against windshield. i changed lanes mid-curve and he flinched in the passenger seat, griping the door, the scent of his distress permeating the car. i turned down the radio to curb his anxiety, as roadway ditches gave way to cliffs without guardrail. in central time, nightfall littered its cloak across the landscape at 4:30 with miles and miles still to go before nashville. red delineators dropped between highway lines like a shower of sparks from discarded cigarettes. i sipped a diet coke and in my best twang sang, “lord, i was born a ramblin’ man.” 221116 ... tender_square deer carcasses lay akimbo on the shoulder in various degrees of decay. in tennessee, there’s no rest areas, or signs that warn of ways the road dipped and curved; it’s sense-shifting while toggling cruise. rock faces crumbled, eroding into highway like my resolve to be a perfect partner for one final occasion. transport trucks hauled ass in the passing lanes, cargo wobbling over white dashes. alabama sunbathed for nearly two hundred miles, wrapped up in ribbons of bikini cloud. we passed monroeville, his grandparents’ hometown, now both deceased, dutiful wife returning to rest beside her husband tomorrow. “fire and rain” unfurled from a satellite signal and in my peripheral, my estranged spouse wept quietly for his mamma as i sang from my soul in high harmony. 221117 what's it to you? who go blather from