on this dark and quiet night,

my only companion is the flicker of the dashboard lights.

my thoughts are at rest,

i’m steeped in rote as i retrace

the well-known path toward home.

in the black of the night

even music is intrusive and troublesome

so instead i choose

the silence of wheels humming over pavement,

the rhythmic clicks as i change lanes.

my mind wanders as i wend my way

without frenzy;

just a quiet review of the bits and pieces of thought that

floated by during the day,

oddly unemotional and abstract observations of my life

unmolested by daylight’s glare.

and in those peaceful moments

there is a sense of satisfaction as my demons,

those driven and demanding critics that berate me in the light,

are held in abeyance

replaced by a welcome if transitory

sense of ease.