if it has no direction
if it has no rules

if it does not rise when oppressed
if it does not know how to define rest

if it changes clothes to hide
if it revolves around fallout

if it recognizes color and responds to light
if it rejects the far ends of the spectrum

if it barks when it smells panic
if it pants and rolls over on the neighbor’s lawn

if it bites its own hand
if it chews and never completely swallows

if it is a country
if it is a great power

if it is alive
if its surface well described reveals its interior

if it is anything like its surface
it is hollow

while driving home
the teenager passed as always
the house where his ex-
girlfriend lived.

his habitual angry honk
startled a possum
who was crossing the road.

the possum froze on the center line,
and the boy swerved toward him
but thought better of it.
at the last minute
he straightened the wheel
and drove on.

when he finally pulled into his own street,
the boy was still unsure if what he felt
was regret
or relief.