White Headlights

A moment of racism

Photo by Hamid Khaleghi on Unsplash

Window rolled down,
hot fierce breeze —
seductive whisper
of his blonde wife
brushing his black cheek,
tangle of her fingers
in his tight curly hair.

Radio off,
he’s entranced by rattle
and grind of his used car
on gravel backroads,
echo of the Delta blues.

Dusk, his wife falls asleep
in the passenger seat,
curled in a ball, blanketed.

He grips the steering wheel,
pent up rage,
headed through a gauntlet
of cotton fields,
smell of dirt and heritage:
bent backs, callused hands,
sharecropper dreams
swinging from an oak tree,
Emmett Till bludgeoned
for a whistle.

The rage,
borrowing used books
from friends,
staying up all night,
burning his mind at both ends.