New Orleanians won’t let you forget
you aren’t from here.
Even after a decade.
And neither does the feeling
you’re discovering a country
within a country, a separate way
people have for living
without your approval
or need for it. Coffee shops
that open after nine am
when you’re already at work.
Tag: road trip
Travelers’ Summer
Weather stretching out
golden and blue
to encourage us all to the road.
With sunglasses and daypacks,
swimsuits and bottles of trunked water
growing warm as if they’re already
laid out in the sun.
Old Roadtrips
Find me a patch of sun I drove through.
One of those afternoons made of shadows between trees and highways.
Back to my car that only has a tape deck.
It’s not so far back as you might think.
Common Poem 