Computers calculate Pacifica’s arrival rate,         calibrate

Yakima Racks vibrate;  red tail lights, California plates       illuminate

Catapult like, punch out backward,         driveway escape

Slam brake, Lower Vuarnets,       accelerate

Jet sled forward,     jettison hinter landscape,

Kids’ harnassed in, screaming for “G”s,  Airfoil stops levitate,

Suburbs spin by,   kaleidoscope state

Exhaust flames blast landscape,   engine roar penetrates sound abate

TV screens quake, I-Phones break,  Palo Alto trajectory, GPS     navigate

“I-280 South,” electronic voice     state

Enter freeway, centrifuge rate,

Kids’ laughs vii-ii-ii-bb-rr-aa-tt-ee

Their faces flatten, lips quiver out:                “Ma-aac-Don-nn-ool-ddd- ss.”

“But, wait,” slamming brake, chassis shake, thumping headwinds   de-accelerate,

Brake lights illuminate, grandma suffers shake and bake,

Mufflers re-ver-ber-ate, Toddlers’ car seats paddy cake,

“Did we turn the burners off?”

“One-eighty” initiate,   sideways drift       negotiate

Harnesses strain, coffee cups drain, tires burn     spinning state

Regain control, release brake,           re-accelerate

Shoulders press seat backs,       throttles reactivate

Fire escapes tail pipes, fuel injectors roar,         Audis overtake

Instruments shake, speed alarms rattlesnake

“Reverse course charted, I-280 North,”     accelerate

Exit signs flash by,       warp speed-scape

Faces flatten     centrifuge like,

Kids’ voices qua-a-a-k-k-e:               “Bur-r-r-r- ger-ger,-Ki-i–n-n- g-g”