Death was loud and gutsy and smelled really bad
all along the dead end street on the stagnant river
in New Orleans. The fresh skeletons and roaring engines
intimidated me a little so I remained a journalist one step
out of the fray. Drivers and riders spilled their guts
down the alleys, reeking their gung ho purpose
to the bourbon vomit sky. Was death the destination?
They did not know. Every other car was a winner.
I appreciated and envied the soul mate duo so in love
they cheated rape, ennui, indigestion and death in their
freshly painted freedom ride. I don't know the brand but
it was fast and magical and it got the job done. The soul
mates roared off into the fishy fog chortling like Stevie
Knicks and Don Henley circa "Leather & Lace."
You can get married fast and cheap in Las Vegas and Reno
but death defying love like that costs more than the biggest
ass plasma television you ever saw.

Misti Rainwater-Lites
Misti Rainwater-Lites has chapbooks available from Kendra Steiner Editions. She also has a ridiculous amount of self-published poetry collections and novels available at lulu.com. Sloppy Mouth, Misti's first full-length poetry collection published by someone other than herself, was due for release in April 2010.