after three nights in jail, i head north from toyavale. switch to 285 in pecos, head up to red bluff. my walk's real steady and my eyes are real cold but i feel like i'm all of sixteen years old -- lost in the travel lodge, with the television on with the sound down, i don't feel so tough. old issues of sunset magazine to read, sleep for twelve hours, and dream about home. i have no place to go, so i drive up to new mexico. fix my eyes in the rearview when i cross the state line. and i panic, i guess. and although it's quite late, i take the first exit to 128. i am coming back to midlind. i hope you won't mind. polaroids of the two of us scattered on the passenger's seat. i drive slowly and evenly and i dream about home.