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Big Freaking Truck

by Bruce W Niedt

I am driving home a fellow poet,
one whom I respect and admire.
As I try to merge right on the highway.

A tractor-trailer, the longest I’ve ever seen,
paces me, blocking my progress.
Now, with this poet beside me,

one whose words caress the page,
I want to say something creative,
something witty, some turn of the phrase, like

this truck is longer than a Library of Congress shelf, or
it looks like a seawall on wheels, or
it’s the dinosaur to my egg-stealing mammal.

Instead, I say,
“That’s a big freaking truck!”
I am embarrassed by inarticulation.

Her laugh surprises me.
You never know, she says,
when inspiration will hit you.

I can only imagine what she’s thinking,
what beauty she will work
with this most mundane of moments.

But she’s right – it’s one definition of poetry:
to turn the ordinary into the transcendant.
Finally, I maneuver around the truck,

and see my way clear
to take the poet home,
to take the poem home.



06/03/2002

Posted on 06/03/2002
Copyright © 2024 Bruce W Niedt

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by A. Paige White on 08/01/09 at 04:23 AM

I'd like to elaborate on your sixth stanza with a small hiccup of contradiction. I can honestly say your work, randomly skipping through your library, always inspires me. You do wonders with all these challenges you post for us. You're so good at it, it's kind of intimidating. Like J.D. said, you do this on command and that alone is awe inspiring. Great writing Bruce, you're an inspiration!

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