They drove down the stretch of highway, his knuckles gripped on the steering while his mouth closed. He felt it better if he didn’t say anything, since the tension was still there. His mind was running on full tilt.

They hadn’t spoken a word to each other since the argument. Now they were in their cooling off period.

He: we were lost
the anger between driver and navigator
a radiator
which boiled over
a hissing spitting venting of steam

then the silence of unfamiliar roads

Sending out tentative search parties of reconciliation
but some directions are irretrievable
there’s no taking them back

Lost in uncharted territory
beyond the help of St Christopher or Gregory’s

Each thinking silently
perhaps this time
we’ve gone

too far.

It was dawn of a new day, she stepped out on the balcony of the hotel, a cup of coffee in her hands. They had found a place to stop and rest and recuperate after a long day on the road. It was a good time to recharge their batteries.

They needed a break from the road, even though this was a brief one.

She: There’s a strange bird
on the balcony -
one I can’t find in the book.
Look - pure white
resembling a dove.
The yin yang
of a black tail spot
overlaid with white feathers.
I think perhaps
an albino magpie
but for its pink legs
and its silence
and the magpies
chasing it across sky
in dogfight flight.
I guess it’s an outcast
seeking sanctuary
in this high place.
As I look through the window,
its eyes look through me
but I feel a connection.