american haiku #36

sitting in the back
of a pick up truck
barreling down Rt 30
hot summer day 1974.

i saw a fly buzz
from cooler to cooler
it’s going 2 mph
but the truck is going
70 and so
i’m beginning
to understand
the
universe.

rughead said
damn, that sun is hot!
rughead, i said
that sun is billions and
billions of degrees hot
yet the first atom test
was hotter than the center
of the sun (it’s true).

rughead looked at me
and so did leon, westagon
and itchy. i forgot
what happened next
it was very humid
the kind of day
that philly will throw
at you in august
or october :  )
we were doing tree work
for crazy ed taylor.