5 - the Relationship------------------------------------------
|
"Well -- I bet we'd stop if it were you
who needed a service station!"
not true--not true
says I to her boiling over
but driving through from dawn
till dusk
grim as death -- whipped along
by some primal hunting urge
to find the meat -- kill it
and get it safely home
like all the desperate men I've seen
inching their machine along the
California coast
I carry on
one eye on the calendar
the other on the map
at the wheel but never feeling
in the driver's seat
missing everything
except the double line
that hauls me through a Rand McNally nightmare and leaves me sick with fear
hearing nothing
but a queer sound in the engine
the obvious click -- click -- click click
that she puts down as my imagination
suggesting that perhaps
the battery needs lubrication
when the time comes
I always take my leave
like bitter medicine
watching the signs fly by
counting the miles and minutes off
praying that nothing goes wrong
till I'm back where I belong
on the job
caught up again
in a seemingly endless
exhausting work year
made bearable only
by the prospect of another summer
on vacation |
|
6---------------------------------------------------------------------
|
I loved our family camp-outs
Except for the getting there
Ric driving through
Past the vistas Past the view
Restaurants -- restrooms
His bladder gaged with the gas tank
Never stopping for the children or me
His foot on the throttle
Making the kids pee in a bottle
Back then I never understood
Since there are certain things
Men are supposed to do
I naturally let ol' Dan'l Boone
Get mantles for the lantern
Buy white gas -- lye for the john -- ice
Fishing licenses -- hatchets
Ropes -- tents
One summer without him
The kids and I went
We loaded the car
Wrestling that puzzle into the trunk
The children
Packed the fishing tackle on top
To be the first to come out
As soon as we got there they grabbed it
And vanished wily as trout
Leaving me to unpack
Gas up the lamp -- dig the latrine
Put the watermelon and cans
In the stream
Gather wood -- fight the tent
Get hyperventilated on the air mattress
When i got through
Dizzy doing what he would have done
I could see why he said:
"Camping wasn't all that much fun." |
|
