Automobile

Automobile

Subdivided space: trunk for luggage,
boxed food in cellophane-thin bags.

The hood full of engine and wire
and fluid, chambered, cardiac.

The front seat separated into two
distinct regions, governed by function:

a driver, a turner of wheels and pusher
of pedals; a passenger, co-pilot.

Relative formlessness of the backseat,
practically a pew, marked in thirds

by nylon straps and shiny buckle
to hold shoulder, lap, shoulder.

Here is how to understand all
of creation: compartmentalize.

Take the cosmos, or any massive
land mass and make it into regions.

Analyze anatomy. Study the contents
of every body, each muscle and organ

and cell. With these limits, an entire
civilization can build and be built.