Mark Allen Jenkins
New Carcass
Like last year's hurricane loosened
roofs in Lake Charles, the speeding downpour loosens
the duct tape framing my car's headlight.
It flaps in the wind, mirrors the blue tarps
cover roofs on either side of the highway.
Last month, the gas gauge's orange needle stopped
at three quarters full, but I have no plans to fix it.
Still, by the Texas border, I wonder if, like a bullet
ridden plane, will a stream of black smoke send me to the side?
Some gasket or screw, finally decides to part ways
with the plastic, metal, and fluid collective.
Vehicles drift to the berm to become scenery
like the white stripe my car follows
into the horizon. Billboards desperately want me
to take the next exit. My car will punish
me for solving the new noise it produces.
Bio
Mark Allen Jenkins completed an MFA at Bowling Green State University. He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Texas at Dallas where he serves as Poetry Editor for Reunion: The Dallas Review. His poetry has appeared in Memorious, minnesota review, Muse & Stone, South Dakota Review, and elsewhere.