South to Savannah by Chris Campanioni

The sun came through the dashboard and died
under another overpass, air as thick as dreams,
wanting as you might sometimes consider
just about everything: a crimson sunset
tapestry,hash browns and vanilla malts
and silver dollar pancakes, endless
notepads (a keepsake), a girl to kiss,
trackless beach, the whole world, or just to be
at least ONE YEAR OLDER.Unaware
(or reluctant to believe)
that you are the one telling the story,
subject and storyteller, soothsayer,
and say what you will
about twists and surprise endings
but in this version you’re only ever
riding in the backseat
of a car, slipping down the long slide
of Carolina, south to Savannah,
weeping willows, watching
the people and places and things
as if they’re only really
set pieces, silent until observed,
motionless
just like that double-slit experiment
you never knew
when the bell rang, when it came time
to turn all the papers in.

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About the author: 

Chris Campanioni has worked as a journalist, model, and actor, and he currently teaches literature and creative writing at the City University of New York. His writing has also appeared in the Star-Ledger, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Bergen Record, the Herald News, The Brooklyn Rail, StatORec, La Pluma y La Tinta, theNewerYork, and Fjords Review. He was awarded the Academy of American Poets Prize at Lincoln Center in 2013, and his novel, Going Down, was recently selected as Best Debut Novel for the approaching International Latino Book Awards. It was also named by the New York Post as a “must-read book” and one of the best books of the year by the Latina Book Club. His poetry collection, In Conversation, will be published in May by Aignos.

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