Garrett's Poetry Performance
Last Tuesday night my mother, Jenna, comes into the house
I’m sitting in the living room with my other mom, Kelly
Jenna asks us if we could take a drive with her
And as we drive, silence creeps along like the cracks of a frozen lake
Our hearts begin to thud slowly off beat
And I wonder and then I know
And I didn’t imagine it would end like this
I didn’t imagine an ending at all but if they were going to tell me about the divorce
I sit in the back seat and think about how lucky we were to have had this family
Their 20 years of marriage, my 15 with them
I remember all of us driving miles out in the high way until I fell asleep in the back seat
I don’t want this life to end
She tells me that our car is just 13 miles away from reaching 100,000 miles now
I wonder if this is part of the divorce speech or just a distraction
I feel angry, they should just say it
She tells me the reason we took this ride is so that we could all be there to reach 100,000 miles together as the people who matter in our life
Slowly I realize that this isn’t a break up ride or a divorce ride or a separation ride
This is a 100,000 mile ride
We’re in the car and we’re driving on a Tuesday night
And we’re 99,987 miles in
We stop for onion rings and sundaes
Keep driving, 99,993 miles Stevie Nicks
When we get to 99,999 miles we hold hands, blast Melissa Etheridge and sing Lucky at the top of our lungs
There are too many reasons that my mamas found love in each other’s presence
There are too many moments when we are unbreakable and this moment we are one family
Constructing rode as we go
Burning bridges behind us
Adding mileage like graceful aging
Driving in our car towards moonlight