Mather Schneider lives in Tucson AZ and drives a cab for a living. His poetry and prose have appeared in the small press since 1993. He has 2 full-length books of poetry, Drought Resistant Strain, from Interior Noise Press, and He Took a Cab, from NYQ Press. Visit his blog.
Breaking the Holding Pattern
By Mather Schneider
The yellow taxi moves
toward the sunset
up the Tucson Mountains.
At the summit the taxi turns
into the viewing area
and stops.
The driver is an old man.
He gets out of the taxi
and walks over to the edge
of the desert vista.
The short wall from the local
volcanic rock
is rough on his hands
as he leans on it.
He looks at the pinks and purples
of the sunset
and feels like he could touch
it.
He looks back a the cab.
There is a passenger in the back seat
in shadow.
The meter clicks
like the snapping
of digital flowers.
The old man climbs up on the volcanic rock wall
and jumps.
He is dead 16 seconds
after hitting and rolling
down the rocky embankment.
He comes to a stop
against a 200 year old Saguaro cactus
into the top of which a small speckled bird
has made a hole
and laid three perfect
pink eggs.
