Wiser

The air was so metallic
just like brass or copper
bleeding from the buildings.
I fell asleep in my car after a long night
drinking out somewhere
the parking lot was empty now
and everyone besides me made it home
somehow.

While I scraped the windshield
my hands burned like the taste
of poison, and I noticed an older woman
in a crop top spreading salt out
on the sidewalk.

I asked if she was cold at all
from across the lot where she could
barely hear me and she looked up
at me, shook her head
and smiled then continued
with her business.

About halfway home the weariness
took hold of me and I nearly drove
the car straight off the road,
but luckily I only crashed into
a fountain at the center
of a round about.

No one else was around
and as I stumbled from the wreck
I collapsed along the marble rim
of the structure.
In desperation I dunked my head
under the water and drank
until the darkness melted off of me.

Then I drove off again
and no one was the wiser.