Your Rearview Self, The Summer Hell

with the wave of chicadas it comes,

every day, 

between noon and three-o-clock

you step outside and you hear them all

you cannot block it out 

you begin noticing the gravel at your feet

"DEMOLISH YOUR DEBT

IN 3 EASY STEPS"

the 106.3° on your dash, 

the 103.9 on a highway ad

Megan THEEE Stallion!

ah aha haha

Joel O'cult telling me to come home

"TO HOPE."

LORD OH LORD

You don't know where all these cars came from

on the 90, yet everyone's going with a stable 20,

appearing to melt into one another,

a sort of ripple about the highway mouth 

on the horizon,

an outline of the devil's back

he turns around,

winks at your rearview self

but, my friend, you wink back,

don't you?

There's this one car that's been following me for three blocks

that is, until it leaves a street too early

why did it leave me? 

we had something going on, i think 

a connection

well, i guess i was wrong.

with the wave of chicadas it comes,

wailing down my throat, 

blood at my knees as they give way to the concrete 

patches of hair in my hands, as I've pulled every string out 

all out all out a tremendous wail

nobody stops

because, 

i mean, 

there 𝘪𝘴 n o b o d y

where are all the people?

who is driving all of the cars?

who

is 

driving 

all of the cars?

yes, yes, nobody stops

except 

a lady pushing an h-e-b cart a good ways away from h-e-b

"excuse me, ma'am, hii"

i turn over, though i saw her coming

"I'm from this that road from ended up inside the fact and fast my girls and places to be but the taxi and yes my lord the savior oh and the target cashier do you

have a quarter?"

and so i tell her I'm sorry,

"but do you take card?"