Closer Inspection

First published in The Night Heron Barks, Fall Issue 2020

He’s made a dishonest

living out of hawking lemons

I come across one of his harder

sells behind yellow tape, study

gaps between doors to indicate

past collisions. Inspect windows

with hammer and cloth, upend

flooring. This clunker was driven

by a serial killer. A string of murder

sprees were misspelt in back seats

I see blood stains bleached

half-clean by fisherman’s hands

Determine signs of a struggle

Who bellied the boning knife?

I dig a blue-jellied finger

into interior dash, wipe asking

price off windshield, discover

my face reflected in the rear view

or was that someone else? I check

the boot for a body—find nothing.