Driver’s Insurance

Natalie Keller

Year: Senior

Major: Writing

Hometown: Arlington, TX

 

He sat in the driver’s seat, blue eyes on his phone

with my hazel ones staring at him in wonder of

his neglecting glory.

 

We drive on, shaken by bumpy roads

and a blind future

in a 1997 Toyota Camry.

 

Slowly, we roll through a red stop sign;

never quite yielding, despite the warnings

to do so.

 

The tires deliver us to tracks

where the road intersects with them,

unlit by the broken street lights.

 

A train sounds in the distance

crying for us to stop. He doesn’t brake

but my heart does for him.

 

On we crash, unavoidably helpless

alongside shattering glass and shattering souls, waiting

for chaos to subside. 

 

He was driving my car. I wouldn’t be

mad, but the mechanic said

that the engine could not be fixed.

 

I drive a new car now, two years later.

I’m smart enough to get driver’s insurance,

and to use my horn when needed.

 

Sturdy arms hold me, fastened

like unrecalled seatbelts

holding me in place.

 

Only eight miles on the meter,

I drive straight forward, 

knowing more lie ahead of me

and the drive is worth the distance.