Terror
By Larry Rochelle

triple-digits on our vehicles,
illusions pounding our headaches,
throttles pushed down,
we lurch through pools
cooled by rich moonlight,
every effort to slow
dimmed by persistent, yet
unresponsive, assurances,
soft words over the radio,
calming our hearts, but raising
our temperatures,
no one taking the blame,
no one home.

— Larry Rochelle is an English professor at Johnson County Community College. Poet’s Showcase features work by area poets. Submit your poetry via e-mail with a subject line of Poet’s Showcase to mpaget@ljworld.com or send typewritten (not handwritten) submissions to Mindie Paget, 645 N.H., Lawrence 66044, attn: Poet’s Showcase. Teen writers should submit their work to the 18 & Under page at teens@ljworld.com.