Pecos

I am 38 driving across
West Texas with my wife
Lindy on our way to the Gila
Wilderness to backpack,
We will stop overnight
In Fort Stockton but
Will not reach that
Goal until tonight
And we are both
Tired so after
A few hours
Lindy tells
Me to
Let
Her drive.
It is dark as only
West Texas can be,
I fall asleep and wake
As we cross the Pecos
And Lindy tells me
That over the
Last hour
The
Traffic
Coming toward
Us have all been honking.
Ten days later we are
Driving back to
Austin crossing
The Pecos
When we
Notice
The road has
Narrowed to two
Lanes with a cliff on
One side and a drop-off
Of hundreds of feet on
The other side where
She was driving in
The dark 70 MPH
Speeding ahead
Wondering why
Cars and
Trucks
Coming
Toward her
Honked a warning
In the dark velvet night
Unaware of how close
We were to the edge
Of the road by the
Drop off as I
Slept.
We were
Young and
Thought we were
Immortal as
Well as
Immoral in
A friendly weird
Austin sort of way,
We are both inveterate
So Gooders and a
Bit too prudish
For university
Types, the
Dark kept
Us from
Fear
And
Law west
Of the Pecos.