Roadtrip to Chicago

He reaches up slowly with one index finger,
and gracefully pushes the sun visor back into place.

I notice this gesture in my rear view mirror,
and something about it makes my heart stir.
Some remembrance provoked by this small gesture.

I pull away from the stoplight in Marion, Illinois,
and notice that he drives a black Ford pickup,
one of those monster trucks with four doors
and the back wheel base wider than the front.

He wears a baseball cap,
metal-rimmed sunglasses,
and an orange T-shirt
with something written on the front.
He follows me lazily, not too close,
not in any hurry.

At the next stoplight,
he sticks a cigarette in his mouth,
where it hangs on his lip like a pout,
and lights it with a Bic.
another gesture that stirs the girl
that thought that gesture was sexy.

I peer to make out his face,
and can see only that it is not youthful,
but young enough,
with a sandy-colored mustache,
not exactly to my liking.

The light turns green.
I pull away
and am distracted.
When I look again, he is gone

I have lost the man in the pickup truck,
the girl that noticed him
in the rearview mirror,
and the moment.

Health Update 5-22-06

Well dear friends, after two more months of chemotherapy, there is only a little progress in reducing the cancer cells from my neck and chest wall. So, I will continue in this somewhat more aggressive chemotherapy through the summer (working around some travel plans, cancelling others) and take the month of August off for my trip to Alaska. Verse to follow after I get over being bummed out.

Prayers and positive intention thoughts welcome. Blessings, Ana