Beat the Devil

hauling peanut butter crank through arizona,
gotta keep the glow stick babies fat and happy.
cactus standing taller than goliath,
all the vultures come directly at me.
we stash it in between some bales of lumber,
on flatbeds coming in from colorado.
i don't know what you're doing back in memphis
all winter you've been incommunicado.
take a picture, do it fast.
for the good times,
for the good times that won't last.
hot sun peels the paint down to the primer,
overheating engine spits and whines.
try to keep our minds on what we're doing,
try to keep the wheels between the lines.
the feeling when the cop car flips its lights on
the near electric tension crackling here inside the truck,
the lack of any word from you in memphis
the sounds of someone running out of luck.
take a picture, do it fast.
for the good times,
for the good times that won't last.