Evangelical Home


A misty night, a little wind, and too

much black and slick: tough driving town to town

without a buzz. I bring a toothbrush and

a peanut butter sandwich, cell phone charger,

murder novel. Dog’s in back. I’ve cracked

the windows: he can poke his nose and sniff

the mystery of dark and wet. A round-

about, a lightless stretch, a flashing yellow,

truck lights in my rearview mirror. Scherzo

on the playlist, whoosh of cranked defrost.

To feel a rhythm to our consciousness,

to beat or meet our short deadlines: no answers,

only comfort. Then, so soon, arrival.

I kiss my wife at her mother’s deathbed.



Thomas Zimmerman teaches English, directs the Writing Center, and edits The Big Windows Review https://thebigwindowsreview.com/ at Washtenaw Community College, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His poems have appeared recently in Rune Bear, Panoply, and Hunnybee. Tom's website: https://thomaszimmerman.wordpress.com/