Kristine Rae Anderson

Driving Through the Cascade Mountains, January

Highway 5, dense predawn fog,
hours of headlights reflecting
gauzy, moisture-heavy air,

intermittent rain showers–
wet pavement, slick hilly curves,
hairpin corners–the occasional mercy

of a straightaway, eyes stinging
from the car’s blasting defrost,
and terrified even to blink—then

emerging from a curve into sunshine:
the road ahead suddenly visible,
landscape splashed in light,

towering mountain slopes,
centuries-old fir and pine—
above, resplendent blue of the sky.

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Kristine Rae Anderson is a Pushcart-nominated poet and author of the chapbook Field of Everlasting. Her poems have recently appeared in SALT, Literary Mama, Science Write Now, and elsewhere. She has received Tomales Bay and Fishtrap fellowships as well as first place award in the Mary C. Mohr Poetry Contest (Southern Indiana Review). She lives with her family and their three-legged rescue dog in southern California, where she volunteers as a literacy tutor. www.kristineraeanderson.com.