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A Hitchhiker I Picked Up Outside of Blowing Rock, NC // Paul Piatkowski

The man seemed normal enough
from thirty-five miles per hour
and rounding a curve;
not until he revealed
his ultimate destiny of winning
the war against Satan
and old Blacklegs' allies, the aliens,
did I start to worry. His parents,
he explained,
had been part of the Dark,
so when he realized
the role they were
planning for him
(he would turn the tide, apparently)
he managed
an amazing escape.

The few phrases
I spilled
were returned to me
within his new context
disguised as mantras
for an angel army.
I counted down
the minutes until we hit Black Mountain
where I let him loose on the streets

another man of imagination
roaming the back roads of a sparse town,
the mountains
a purple silhouette in the distance.