[Buddy Wakefield]

After over 300,000 miles

12 dozen breakdowns, nervous

One too many midnights and a bunch of broken laws later

I have come here from out of the rain and into this rest area

Caught, 22 miles between you and me watching the Information Man

Behind his Information Booth, juggling predictable conversation

With folks who look like iceberg lettuce and who believe that somehow

The flat lines of small talk will give us life

I want them to leave

Like a big deal orchestra removing itself from the stringed section

So I can fiddle with fate and make music

There is a distance the size of bravery

It forms like words in the mouth of a baby

Reaching out for the point where all things meet

On one end of it sits an Information Man

Who I imagine holds down his second job as church bartender

Behind locked doors, leading to the bell tower we are not allowed see

On the other end of this space

I am standing like shoe polish on an overstocked shelf

Hoping that one day someone will pick me to make things better

This is not a showdown or a shootout, we are not facing off

But I can feel the rumble between dusk and dawn

As if the chance to come clean with myself will be outlawed unless I relax

I have heard, that if you pull a bent breath

Through the second hole of a harmonica

Tuned to the key of Georgia

While a train moves by on the tail end of dusk

There is a good chance you will finally know what it means to rest

I have not yet rested

It takes a long time to make love with someone who hates themselves

It feels like I've been standing here for exactly that long

When at last, the rain outside drops off

And takes everyone in the rest area with it

Except for me and the Information Man

If we were created in God's image, then when God was a child

He smushed fire ants with his finger tips and avoided tough questions

There are ways around being the go-to person, even for ourselves

But tonight we will get the answer, and you know what I’m talking about

The Answer

Emphasis on E, Answer

So I put my best foot forward

And take the kind of deep breath that gives me away

As someone who deals with anxiety and odd numbers

Every other

Other every minute

In between it, the Info Guy's eyes grab me then shift

Back and forth

Like mopping floors with the sweat I sweat in battles against myself

He's got me locked in and is smiling

If you've never been rocked back by the presence of purpose

This poem is too soon for you

Return to your mediocrity

Plug it into an amplifier

And rethink yourself

Because some of us are on fire for the answer

I am ready for rejection and rebirthing balance in my stutter steps

When the Info Guy finally pipes up

Like C.R. Avery on a piano box

And says to me:

[Information Man]

I can tell you're looking for answers

In the same way I can see when Kenny Rogers is out of aces

So for a taste of your whiskey I'll give you some advice

(Laughs)

I'm just fucking with you

You're not allowed to have alcohol here, man

It's a rest area

Listen

If I didn’t have so much of this life all wrong

I would have gotten it right by now

I talk a whole bunch, but I really know only a few things

So I'm not saying to follow along verbatim here

I'll just tell ya the things I tell myself

The things I know

And you can see what sticks

I know our shoes were stitched from songs about highways

The best songs are the ones about Georgia

Even though I've never been there it's the only place I still believe in Jesus

I know that no matter what it is you believe in

You've got to spare yourself the futility of making fun of God

Because that guy hasn't even talked

Ever

I know troubleshooting yourself in the foot

And acting as your own universe is a tricky dichotomy to deal with

But, yes, you are the center of the universe

If you weren't you wouldn't be here

So as the middle of space, and everything floating in it

It is your job to know that the emptiness is just emptiness

That the stars are stars

And that the flying rocks hurt

So please, stop inviting walls into wide open spaces

I know everything is out there

It's why they call it everything

I know there are times

When you will lay your head to rest

And have a moment of brilliance

That will grow into a perfect order of words

But you will fall asleep instead of painting it down on paper

When you wake up you will have forgotten the idea completely

And miss it like a front tooth

But at least you know how to recognize moments of brilliance

Because even at your worst you are fucking incredible

It comes honest

So return to yourself even if you're already there

Because no matter where you go

Or how hard you try

Or what you do

The only person you're ever going get to be

And I know it

Thank God

Is you