Be comfortable in your seat. Set
all the mirrors to your liking. Take
the wheel firmly, assuredly. Know
control is not absolute. Beware
of those overly self aware. Shift
your eyes every so often. Let
others in. Keep your distance. Lock
your doors. Know where you are. Look
ahead of where you’re going. Sense
blind spots. See everything all the time. Read
the signs. Remember the rules. Keep
in touch where you begin and end.
Don’t go. Stay here. Let me strap you in. Grab
my face in your sweaty toddler hands, kiss my cheek. Leave
a mark that will tattoo the walls of my heart. Love
me, my daughter, even when I can no longer teach you
how the road will play tricks on you when you’re tired
and tell you all the lies that will get you lost.
Stay awake, my love, eyes open, see that now,
no matter my dreams of living forever,
now it is you who holds the wheel.
Photo by Cory Bouthillette on Unsplash.
