Just a short drive home

I can’t get enough of
this postcard sunset
off to my right
while rushing
amid the others.

Trying to shake off
the day’s residue -
juggled deadlines
and mixed messages;
I’m wishing for
a softer moment.

Half the fireball
gleams through
openings in the scrub,
live oaks and pines;
the horizon
swathed in pink
and violet.

Half an eye straining for
the peripheral flare
as the sun disappears.
Half a brain
planning what
tasks won’t get
done tomorrow.


© 2001 Melissa Songer