m/

blinking lights ahead,

i slow to just over sixty,

following cars veering left

toward the left shoulder

on the right shoulder,

a truck and an suv

pulled over in tandem

the suv’s front bumper gone,

it's on the wide highway,

black shards scattered

like fallen glass

a tawny shape lies still,

its back turned to me-

i can't tell

if it's dog or coyote,

coat glowing warm,

like canola fields

set ablaze across rolling hills

lit by the last light of day

flesh torn, flashing pink matter,

raw and exposed

a man waves as i pass.

he waves to the cars behind me too,

slow down, slow down

another man stands by the truck,

hands raised, sharp

like he’s just lost something

he can’t get back-

in my mirror,

the man runs onto the road

grabs the leg,

drags it off the road,

blood tracing the highway’s edge

like a line drawn

with a felt tip marker

i keep driving,

engine humming low,

and soon stop for gas—

the night folding in

like it never happened