Playdate planned, 

you drank a glass of filtered water, 

“dead” they call it 

because of a chemical imbalance, 

raised a smile 

to the woman who gave you sons 

now grown and gone. 

The yellow lab got all the strokes, 

an honest evasion, 

sufficient provision against suspicion. 

  

Did you feel a tingle, unlocking  

The SUV waiting in the driveway 

  

                                                     did you buckle up? 

  

to bear you to the shooting range 

  

                                                     signal lane changes? 

                                                     take note of the caution

                                                     on the side-view mirror? 

                                                     pause after you took your

                                                     foot off the brake

                                                     to feel yourself breathing? 

                                                     its mathematics? 

                                                     its perfection? 

  

before you stepped out of the vehicle 

but not the parking lot?