RITA MAE REESE

Within Five Miles of Home

             The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
                        has banned its employees from using the word accident
because it gives the idea that accidents are outside of human control

             but I have seen my hands twitch the wheel, the chainsaw jump
                        from wood to arm, an icy bridge slip a standing man
straight down twenty feet, cigarettes relight after I’ve fallen asleep.

             Even God acknowledges accidents, commanding
                        the Israelites to set aside Six Cities of Refuge where anyone
who accidentally killed another must remain until the death of the high priest.

             There is a city of refuge inside of me where I wait.
                        I wait for thieves to take everything,
for her to remarry, for our children to grow old without me

             while she sends word for my return.