Dusty winds may exist.
Dangerous winds.
Dust   storms may exist.

Zero visibility possible.
Do not stop in travel lanes.
Use extreme caution.

Silver City: Think Wilderness.
Slower traffic keep right.
Silver City: Think

Colorful.   Care
For your loved one,
Care for yourself. Use

Extreme caution.
Continental divide
fireworks.   Roadwork

Next 10 miles. Left lane.
Left lane closed.
Pedestrians prohibited.

Dead end. Prison facilities
In this area; Notice:
Please do not   pick up

Hitchhikers. Lonesome Road.
Pedestrians. Missile range
Headquarters.

After you die, you will meet
God. Put your money
where the miracles are.

 

Source: This text, excluding the title, is lifted in exactness from roadside signs off Interstate 10 East, from the Salton Sea to San Antonio. Periods denote the end of each sign, billboard, or post. While countless found texts were excised in this poem’s creation, it remains true to the order of the signs as they occur.

Zach Linge is a graduate student at The University of Texas at San Antonio, and a UT Austin alumnus. Previous poems are published in Nimrod International Journal, Permafrost Magazine, and HotHouse Literary Journal, among others. His critical foci include queer and affect theory, the history of witchcraft, and the contemporary novel.