I have seen truck drivers
shift
a full Mack rig
without ever touching
the clutch,
slipping gears
on fingertip
clean through teeth
meant to mesh
like chainmail,
threading the needle
when the speed’s
just right,
poised
on the edge
of a stall—
no telling crunch
or lurching,
just a pure vertical puff
of black smoke.

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Claude Clayton Smith is Professor Emeritus of English at Ohio Northern University, the author of eight books and co-editor/translator of four, whose work has been translated into five languages, including Russian and Chinese, whose degrees include an MFA from the Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa. For further information, see claudeclaytonsmith.wordpress.com/