ZEN CABBY

by Mather Schneider

All the lights turn green at your approach
and there’s a warm breeze
and your haircut grew in good
and your jeans are clean and loose.
Cab driving is like gambling:
it needs abandon to be done well.
Cars swerve out of your way
in the nick of time
and each call from dispatch
is exactly where you are
and you see each fare
before they see you.
You can’t be afraid
to lose.
You barely miss the train
and the cop
and the funeral procession
and you always have exactly the change you need
and when one fare cancels
another calls.
Some call you lucky
and cuss you
when they see you sitting in your cab
in the hot slow afternoon
in the shade
not worrying.
The trick is to trust nothing
but the deepest laws,
and the only way to trust
is to let go.