red cardinal inn

headlights
our only light
against the dark

one day
after arriving and
blowing right through
our first destination
now fast and lost
on the way to our
newest next one

until of course
we ran out of gas
about a thousand
miles too soon
and were forced
to get off and find
anywhere to stay

forty years later
I still haven’t checked out

still stranded right here
between where it was
I thought I had gotten
and where it is
I’m still trying to get

2012