traffic lights turn blue

I leave the hours behind
in darkness and in time
as a storm squalls in from the interstate
wild rain on the street
leaps back to the sky
the rivers in the gutters and the drains
cascade in waterfalls
beneath the wheels
of the freeway and its deafening hiss

heaven is black
and threatening thunder
with the rain not taking time to fall
the gathered darkness
looms streetlit and garish
the tide on the blacktop rises and falls
intersections roar
and whisper
tonight folds into morning like a dream

somewhere music
in high guitar notes
lays a beat on the street cool and hot
tonight folds today
into an impossible tomorrow
the traffic lights turn blue as promised
as Jimi said
the life he lived
is dead and the wind cries ‘Mary’

© BH, 2025

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A precursor to flying to the US. I was thinking of my impressions of being there, and it was the traffic that came to mind. I fixed on the way the lights at intersections are hung out over the lanes. Then I remembered Jimi…