He is heading out
for open road,
big rig humming.
Thanksgiving morning.
The day is crisp and clear.
He will eat his holiday dinner
at some truck stop,
where his banter with the waitress--
a kindred spirit--
will be about keeping the world running
while the rest of 'em
spend the day gettin' fat and happy.
In a while,
he will put in a call to Janie and the kids.
They'll be over at mom's today.
In their pre-meal prayer,
they will say his name.
And yes, he is thankful.
Hell...lucky to have a job at all
the way things are going.
The road snakes on to somewhere
anywhere
nowhere.
And the holiday travelers
blow past him,
just another obstacle
in the way
on the way
to their overindulgence.
He remembers how,
in the beginning,
he thought this would be
a romantic kind of life.
But as he looks out now,
across the endless expanse,
he is struck by the thought
that it's kinda like
gazing at the moon
in daylight.
