suddenly

you catch yourself wondering at a flat world

the horizon is everywhere

surely this much sky needn’t be seen

cowboys love this shit

this vast expanse that will have you crawling

into yourself so tightly

it’s the call of the void in opposite

if only you could become a black hole

instead of experiencing this unchanging semi-sphere

you disappear into the endless landscape

still you trust that the truckers

sometimes on three sides

can see you clearly

a tiny metal island from Maine

why aren’t there more passenger vehicles

you trust that there are human beings

amid the machinery

trust again

in other states you drove

winding mountain roads, so carefully

pulling over to let locals pass

now you barrel over pavement for miles

of nearly nothing at all

toward a limitless horizon

faster than you’d like sometimes

the odometer says there has been progress

you’re trusting this also

a surprisingly small sign says

“Old Route 66”

you might bark out loud,

“Where are my kicks though?!”

but whose fault is that really

you laugh like you’re wasted

too sober

the abyss screams from every angle

what else to do but scream back

“We’re driving straight through,” you’ll tell your possessions

as if your stuffed animal gives a shit

nothing is anything if not hilarious

you’ll pet the dashboard, thank your car

still

wrapped in the claustrophobic

static of dusty browns touching blue on all sides

you cruise fast behind and around big rigs

hours have passed

as every car passes you

but what even is time

just more measurements

you could spy a Virginia plate

even Ohio speeds by

reassured somehow, you might wave at them

you are not-quite-speeding due west forever

or until you fall off this flat earth

you will be riding into the sunset

diving into the hottest parts of the fire

starting at the seams where it touches the world

the interminable firmament will be taken over

slowly now creeps electric orange

fluorescent pink rises

to be engulfed in each other then

consumed by cobalt

the blues devour

until darkness

a quiet glory surrounds you in increments

you alone

among other cowboys

and the square acres of dirt

an end of day artistry

massive in ways you’ve never known

takes over this unfamiliar world

paints a heavy hush against your fears

suddenly

you catch yourself wondering at the boundless beauty

that graces all alike

on the seventh day you met the sky