City spirits

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Sitting at the stop light
Dreading
the long commute home

I look across the street
into the dark
window of the car facing me
bored

To pass the time, I imagine
the driver of the white horseless carriage
as an opponent to be crushed

Who will win the intersection face off

The light turns green
I inch ahead to prepare
for the left turn

My foe slowly passes

I look in to catch a glimpse
of the driver I knew would defeat me
(Their straight crossing outranking
my left turn)

Was it a headless driver
a ghost doomed
to suffer LA traffic
for eternity

No
I was defeated by technology
beaten by a driverless car

2 responses to “City spirits”

  1. Ana Valentina Patton Avatar

    This was such a clever and unexpected twist! I laughed out loud at the last line—what a perfect modern punchline. You really captured that weird mix of boredom and drama in traffic. Loved it!

    Like

  2. Trish Avatar
    Trish

    Brilliant with that metaphor of a contest “my foe”, like gladiators, then the surprise ending. Dang! I have yet to see that, or spar with no one at an intersection. I also appreciate the enjambment “I look into the dark” and “dark/window.” Makes me think about the unknown future of tech, as well as the image.

    Like

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