Glancing in the rearview mirror at the years

behind me, looking at what disappears

when I go around a bend or up a hill

then down and the past is gone until

I stop to look back at the choices

that I’ve made and listen to the voices

rising in me when I sit still in the dark,

my headlights off, the gearshift in park,

and I remember wondering which way to go

when I didn’t have a map or know

where I was or where to turn and not feel lost.

Sometimes I think I took a coin and tossed

it in the air and followed heads or tails

and here I am as the scenery sails

by faster now and I’m holding the wheel,

looking in the rearview mirror and feel

the miles I’ve traveled on this bumpy road

adding up but refusing to be slowed,

a gambler who took chances and made bets

I’d end up on this road without regrets,

a foolish bet, I guess, but one I made

driving on while the miles behind me fade.