Once I was driving for a long time
by myself, tediously, as people do
when they have to get between two
distant points in a country that thinks
it is not at war and I was listening
to a radio show about how little
compassion Americans seem to have,
how silent and insular they become
before erupting in a firework of bullets.
President Obama said I don't think we have
a monopoly on crazy people. The woman said
she was trying to make a point by banging
the loaded shotgun on the floor before
blowing off her jaw. Of course we must
think about the deer population and terrorists
in the wilderness next door as well as
the stupidity of most people trying to make
a point about rights, etcetera. Then the show
ended and some classical music came on
which reminded me how long some things
can endure, for example a sonata written
before radio or this country really existed,
how we still find it beautiful. I considered
how I could have this thought alone
in Ohio, the blank highway a pointless
connection between two extremes.
Then I paid the toll and drove on.