THE LAST EXIT
black beast shrieking underneath my legs
Cyclops headlight stabbing at
the night like a samurai dagger
I tear at the midnight wind
with my shouts of remorse
as my two-wheeled demon jackhammers away
at the dim black velvet ribbon highway
searing metal flashbacks of bad karma
flashing in my field of vision like angry lightning
accelerating
I try to outrun the horizon
wisps of false dreams trail off my faceless helmet
the vibration of the overdriven motor infuses my skeleton
with grim joy
as I crank the throttle to the point of no return
glowing neon green speedometer stuck at 120 mph
glass face cracking in a wide grin until the gauge shatters
shards skimming off the black leather jacket stained by too
many lies and too many truths
and too many metal-plated illusions
my helmet
rotates up to the bloodless sky dotted by the lost souls flying free
idle
thoughts of violent deaths to those tattooed by Odin's valnott
cross my mind
startled
I
look down and see warm light slowly beginning to seep into the space between my
skin and black leather
the
spinning revolutions of my wheels have turned silent
the
residue of blue note exhaust now a faint memory
yet I
plunge forward suspended in the air around me
which has
become liquid ivory
incandescent
beyond comprehension
and then suddenly
without warning
Aphrodite
rushes up, embraces me, and whispers "the road has disappeared"
I
look down
and see
that my ebony motorcycle has begun to crumble away
like
charcoal ashes dispersing in the wind
I
watch in a combination of amusement and horror
as my
black-leather clad hands disintegrate along with the handlebars
but I
feel no pain
only
relief as my body sheds its skin
and I
slowly twist in the wind
and peer
down at alabaster shadowy figures assembling in the distance
Aphrodite
Confucious Odin and Mercury
and I am
comforted by the thought that my penance has finally been completed
and I have
become the ghost rider in the sky
that no
future songs and no future stories will ever be written about