Mile Markers

Jesus is alive
or so he writes
on rural rooftops
as a northern day
breaks in the rear-view
and the west beckons
one more road trip

detritus swirls
on the floor of the
rolling black box
between the brake
and the gas
--jolly rancher remnants;
coffee cup lids

cold beer and energy drinks
cool healthy snacks
of carrot sticks
in a red bag
meant for a beach,
that at this early hour
beads with sweat

behind the navigator
who nods off with forty winks
as the homogeneous heartland
rolls away behind and ahead
another day, another county
unfolds as a blank page
to a new chapter