Oftentimes driving down the road home

windows open

all the way

autumn air

surrounds me with

musty crispness,

maples and alders

in full show-off splendor,

last of the season’s low sun

resting in the south

I am careful to remember

to have my lights on

as oncoming cars

blast past us —

me in my little fog-grey

Ford Focus.

I concentrate on

rules of the road,

am courteous to let

cars with tourists

cut in front of me,

slow down for deer,

brake for school buses.

But sometimes

I think to myself

how amazing it is —

the only thing

separating me

from that other car

speeding towards me

is a thin double

yellow line and

faith that the other driver

won’t cross it.

— Marianna Mears-Jones, Hansville

The Poets’ Corner features work from local poets who read at Poulsbohemian Armchair Poetry, on the first Saturdays of the month at the Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse, 19003 Front St., Poulsbo.