Busy Body

There are days

the gas tank I can't afford to fill

is the only friend I have

the one guard in place

between a sturdy grip on the wheel

and idle hands itching for escape.

There are nights

the headlights on my Kia

give me a safe place-

my only safe place

where I can let my mask slip

and feel what I shouldn't be feeling.

There are moments

the glass windshield I gaze through

seems less likely to shatter

than my feeble grip on reality

and more clear than the world around me

waiting to pull me back in.

But every second

the walls in my mind

like the doors on my car

have a chance to crash

to fall apart like cheap plastic

and ruin it all.

02/06/2023