COMBINE

There was a waxpaper mist
protecting the soybean fields that night
this cat was sleeping
in the road
and it was hardly phased as I drove by
I guess nothing scares you
when you run,
mouse in mouth,
through the cornstalks
to escape the combine as it
lumbers toward you

"Did you see that,"
I ask my Dashboard Jesus

No answer
not surprising
I'm a sinner

my tail lights
haloed the lazy cat
as it stared my rearview reflection down

"Sorry I disturbed you, Cat
I'm a sinner
I'll keep on sinning, I guess"

There was a waxpaper mist
on the soybeans that night
and a cat living unafraid in the dark