Ode to Joy

Ode to Joy


Keep your mouth shut
sky, as I drive
down the ribs of this
land; don’t break
into your melon hymn,
not yet.

Just me and you
Joy, and this bug
splattered glass. A bright
ribbon of
traffic coughs North. But my
road’s dark

wrenches like love.
I’m the world’s
candy, brightly wrapped
sin. I watch
the miles slip under my
wheels, and

the sky loosen
it’s lips to sing.
How the sun rinses
night with its
yellow gloves! So immense
with you

in my lonely
skin. 6 am.
Why do I feel so
achingly
alive? How? How long will
you last?




© Samantha Thornhill

Previously published in Crab Orchard Review