This muted morning,
a car backs up the hill in
the downhill lane while
another car comes
down from the top of the hill
in the same lane while
a third car drives up
from the bottom of the hill
in the uphill lane.
A held breath before
the backing-up car and the
downhill car collide,
the backing-up car
back turns halfway into the
uphill lane right in
front of the uphill
car and the looming two-car
becomes a looming
three-car crash, but then
the downhill and uphill cars
slow, the backing-up
car slips between them
into a driveway, and they,
without a pause or
swerve, continue on
up and down the hill, and I,
on the other side
of the hill watching,
begin breathing again on
this muted morning.
Roy Herndon Smith
dust 