Poetry While Waiting in the Car

poetry while waiting in the car

and drumming your fingers on the steering wheel
because you are waiting for your son
or daughter
or you are afraid to go in to the hospital
or you are dropping off a friend


and there is nothing on the radio
it is all too loud
or too soft, or too religious, or too country
the best thing is definitely
poetry

because there is nothing like
Pied Beauty
for giving you comfort, and then there's
God Says Yes to Me
to make you laugh
and maybe nod

and
The Parable of the Old Man and the Young
to stir your pacifist emotions.
To His Coy Mistress
will make you feel like you are in love
for the first and only and forever, but
if you must weep, there is
Prayer to Persephone

then
The Chambered Nautilus
is a glimpse of eternity and
will make you forget you are in the car
waiting
and drumming your fingers, and fiddling
with the seatbelt--

that's why you should always
keep
a book of poetry
under the seat.