Sunday, September 24, 2023

234 Miles of I-26

Drive drive drive
Three lanes to two lanes 
the corridor of Pines 
Police has pulled one over
everyone over to the left 
drive drive drive 
brake lights all ahead 
jump off at the exit if you can. 
A 30-minute detour is always 
better than being parked for five. 
As you approach The Hot Place 
the road undulates. 
widen back to three 
malfunction junction 
Then the Chapin construction canal. 
White Knuckle for 20 miles. 
Next marker is the split off at Clinton. 
Not too much farther down 
on a clear day 
you can start to see the mountains. 
Pray you breeze through Spartanburg 
you're almost there 
last wee bit of South Carolina has cheap gas 
and then as you cross the border 
the cell phone coverage has gaps 
and your audiobook pauses. 
And then up up up 
past the lumbering big rigs on the right 
and you weave and up and down a bit 
and, boom!, off you go: the exit
and you roll the window down 
and you smell the mountain smell 
Sweet Air 
and up the Steep Chisholm Hill 
around the bend the tire thumps 
as it drops from asphalt to dirt and gravel 
down the driveway 
parked in Incline 
step out and breathe deeply 
and raise your hands 
over your head to stretch

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