Unauthorized Vehicle

by Beverly Ewart

KEEP OFF MERIDIAN, the sign says.

Every car following car following

 car obliquely salutes with OBEDIENCE.

The sun warms our red van

  and I have

    meridian dreams.

I WOULD stop

if I saw a turtle

  or a stranded cat....

... My mind wanders all over that meridian,

             where there might be money in the grass,

or a smooth snake disappearing around a bush,

   or a note to someone, flown there

      from someone's dash out an open window.

UNAUTHORIZED VEHICLE - my mind...

  I can't keep off

   meridians.