Midnight

White lines pace my breathing
Twelve blinks on the dash
Streetlights pass their verdict
Gone within a flash

Hands loosen on the wheel
Engine longs to park
Truth comes to the surface
After dark

Midnight breaks me open
But does not intervene
Miles stretch between the moments
What I said and what it means

Vacant F.M. stations
Airwaves rise and fall
Static fades the signal
I try not to feel at all

Sighs escape the window
Night air hisses sharp
Trouble rides here with me
After dark

Midnight stays beside me
Quiet in the seat
Headlights mark the distance
Between you and me

I drift across the center line
I trust the wheel to know my lane
Memory hits, I flinch and shift
I play it back, frame by frame

Midnight hits without a sound
The dash goes bright, then dim
The road leans forward into me
And overtakes the night

All the distance folds at once
Steady and unflinching
I freeze inside this moment
Until I can accept it