Driving Aimlessly on Spanish Roads
The day started on the wrong side of the roadbegan with tears for friends lost
their holidays over
she folded herself into my arms
I told her that there would be more friends
even better friends
I felt her chest heave against me
I suggested we go, right away
and so
we ran to the rental car
hopped in
I drove
but she was in charge
we started on the wrong side of the road
“Dad!”
we came to a T-junction
I listened for the call from the back seat
“Left!”
we were away
the cracks in the roads got wider
got deeper
the buildings spread out
standing alone like lonely first teeth
the corn in the fields was high and talked to us in whispers
through the open car windows
“Right!”
we looked for signs of life but there were none
the urban desert lay before us
heat rolling across it
finding us
streetlights blinked on with dusk
some flickered
others had given up the ghost completely
“Right and then left!”
unmarked roads yawn and stretch
bending to the line and beyond
there is talk between us
the words instantly forgotten
the embers they sparked
destined to burn on and on
“Reverse!”
“We can’t reverse!”
“Left!”
we drive
until, like those holiday friends
we are long lost
but we have nowhere to be
and Spain, for tonight
is ours
“Right!”
“Right again!”
“Left and left and left and left! A circle!”
the moon is high and the night is low and heavy
it tugs on our eyelids
we drive
my daughter hums in the back seat
unintentional lullabies
we pull over to the side of the road
the adventure over
or maybe just beginning
“Look!”
her finger shoots between us from the back seat
we see a sign not too far in the distance
and realise
that we are right back
where we started from
almost
Steve Denehan @SteverinoD is an award-winning poet who lives in Kildare, Ireland with his wife Eimear and daughter Robin. He is the author of Miles of Sky Above Us, Miles of Earth Below (Cajun Mutt Press), Of Thunder, Pearls and Birdsong (Fowlpox Press), Living in the Core of an Apple (Analog Submission Press) and A Chandelier of Beating Hearts (upcoming with Salmon Poetry). His numerous publication credits include The Irish Times, Poetry Ireland Review, Acumen, Westerly and Into The Void. He has been nominated for Best of the Net, Best New Poet and has been twice nominated for The Pushcart Prize.
Banner Image: “Mapping Spain” Digital Art by Robert Frede Kenter. Tweets: @frede_kenter
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