crimson spray paint
chipped off the
dinged aluminum frame
our dear friend
"the steel skeleton"
daddy rigged that go-cart
to push forty
felt like

mercy, we charged
wild onions
bubbling sun
rope swing
whipped, weaved
clothesline posts
threadbare tires
churned the dirt
that'd raised us

you squealed at the turns
of course you did
i was wild back then
burning rubber
cross clover patches
racing crows
and then the bats
until those holes threw us off
the ones our dog had dug
the ones we never thought to fill
once we'd buried her
beside the barn

whack!

ching and crackle
we'd been flipped
fumes all around and
on the motor
steering wheel
clamped my leg to pedal
i shook it off
but the buckle
mama had installed
did its job and
trapped you there

swoosh of blood in my head
and heat closing in
i found my feet
our crash site ignited and
flames lost their lustre
once they brushed blond hair

crimson sprayed
over dandelions
dribbled from your chin and
as i screamed for mom
for dad
for god
for you
i swore
to never drive again

often i long for
the years we were kids
because all folks would ask was,
"aw, are y'all twins?"
oh, we were tickled
but nope
just brother and sister

now, that we've grown up
yet haven't grown apart
everywhere we go it's,
"aw, are y'all boyfriend and girlfriend?"

oh, brother!
we must be destined to laugh

moths and pinecones
oil pans and barefeet
and we weren't drunk
we were only young
dancing in the driveway
in a lantern's spotlight
to heart and soul
and auld lang syne
and i'm sailing away
one of these nights

she was one of those people who
rode her bike wherever she went
and wore butterflies in her hair
and ate everything with chopsticks
and laughed more than she talked
and shouted, "oh my stars!"
when heaven knows what she really meant
you know, one of them

there comes an age
which i have reached
in which i love
to take my turn
at making Mama
laugh like a
little girl