Wait, I did have a question.

Give me a number between
six and seventeen.

Go on. Get in.

Then the old man
climbed in the back seat.

I wondered: is it me he really wants?

The other gentlemen back there
pretended not to notice.

Or, just pretended.

The memories of crickets
At night always left you cold,

Even with words.

Weren?t you scared? Aren?t you afraid?

Yes, the driver said, after seeing
What he had ? he poured
a capful that shook in his hand on the back road
(trees rushed past us on both sides). And drank.