Human Limitations

I had forgotten it--that wave:
four fingers lifted, thumb still hooked
around the steering wheel, a casual greeting
to another traversing that country road.

I had forgotten that there we wave
at cars we do not recognize
because someone is always inside
and usually we can glimpse a face.

Remember, here we do not wave,
except to people we know or babies--
babies will not misinterpret the gesture.
Personal notice, in cities, is creepy.

Remember, we do not wave
at traffic. Traffic, like a crowd, seems
somehow subhuman: A vaguely hostile force.
We would not greet a thousand souls.

One can only afford to wave
at one.