Road Trip on March 25

There is an unspoken rule of road trips:

Lapses of silence filled only

with

            rumbles

and

             bumps

as the car speeds up to

take

            lefts

and

            rights

to pass its slower peers.

The inconsistent naps that leave

necks

             strained

and

             sore

due to the small pillow that

cushions

             hard

and

             jutting

corners of the cold door windows.

Conversation is not required but when

it

             ebbs
and

             flows

throughout the ride the air fills

with

            teasing

and

            stories

that fade before they end.

One small misdirection twists

simple

           comments

and

            movements

into personal insults that

leave

            tension

and

            argument

trapped on the front doorstep.

The radio gets turned up as

classic

              80s

and

              top hits

start to pour a sweet mixture

of

              memories

and

              singing

over the past mistake.

The song ends and everyone

turns

              phones

and

              playlists

back on to enjoy by themselves to

be

             lost

and 

             content

in their own thoughts.

There comes a point where one

stop

              disgusts

and

              unnerves

the entire car of people

eating
              unhealthy

and 

              filling

fast food that churns the stomach. 

The sun sets until the road ahead

is

              darkened

and

              limited

in night vision that causes lights

to

              glow

and

              glare

into the form of red eyes.

A steady rain begins to

wash

              bugs

and 

              dirt

from the newly cracked window

that

             swipes

and

             pushes

racing droplets away.

Once you put headphones on

music

             drowns

and

             repels

idle conversation out even

when
             names

and

             places

are being called out.

Now it’s gotten too late

to

            read

and

            speak

too often or loudly in fear

of

           interrupting

and

           breaking

the vigil of the dark night.

Some passing cities cast factory

cut

           looming

and 

           industrial

boxes of light that set

off

           horror

and 

           art

scenarios in the mind.

Soon enough the trip

has

          thirty

and

           seven

minutes left that are spent

in

           naps

and

           scrolling

social media mindlessly.

there is an unspoken continuation of the rules:

Once at the destination

the

             silence

and

             sleep

persist until the long day

is

             officially

and 

             physically

over to everyone’s tired delight.

‍

Emma Baird is a 17 year old from Houston, Texas. She writes whenever she feels inspired. Emma tends to write her best poetry on road trips or late at night. Her favorite thing to come up with is characters and their arcs. She worked with her creative writing class on publishing the school's literary magazine, Falcon Wings, where she has a flash fiction and short story piece featured.

"Arguments in Motion" by Instant Vantage is marked with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view the terms, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/?ref=openverse