DRIVING PAIN
I drive the streets in the rain and
wonder if the neck will hurt if
I write tonight
Pain is as necessary as the rain
as anger
as sorrow
as joy
I bare my mammal lips back over my mammal
teeth and bear it like the last wolverine
or that final wild grizzly
I raise upon my haunches and I snarl at
the approaching hunter
he won’t take me easily
***