view from the immortal turnpike

water tanks in my other life
took the form of giant spiders
with legs of rusting iron
then transformed into
green elongated heads of Martians

we played games of getaways
counting out-of-state license plates and herbies
to imagine our coveted escape
to chip at the monotony
of routes that run gray

stir crazy in the hornet car cringing from
metal screws and door handles
we avoided death by electrocution
from ominous telephone poles
that thickened crows.