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Column 112

Slow Dancing on the Highway:the Trip North

Intro by Ted Kooser
05.23.2007

Not only do we have road rage, but it seems we have road love, too. Here Eliz­a­beth Hobbs of Maine offers us a two-car courtship. Be care­ful with whom you choose to try this lit­tle dance.

Slow Dancing on the Highway:the Trip North

You follow close behind me,
for a thousand miles responsive to my movements.
I signal, you signal back. We will meet at the next exit.

You blow kisses, which I return.
You mouth "I love you," a message for my rearview mirror.

We do a slow tango as we change lanes in tandem,
gracefully, as though music were guiding us.
It is tighter than bodies locked in heat,
this caring, this ardent watching.

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Disclaimer

We do not accept unsolicited submissions

We do not accept unsolicited submissions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright © 2001 by Elizabeth Hobbs, whose most recent book is A Craving for the Goatman, Goose River Press, 2003. Reprinted from Poems from the Lake, Goose River Press, 2001, with permission of the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2024 by The Poetry Foundation.