A poem a day in April from Rutgers English PhD students and friends.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Numbers (Belated Earth Day Poem)

  Remember when you said,
                   "Can you believe that gas is going to be two dollars?"
I had no idea what you meant,
                           you were so excited.
                        I didn't know what gas and                two dollars
                                  meant
                       to you, Pre-teen.
Backseat Driver of your mother's minivan
                        and my mother's minivan. 

All this time I've been over-thinking it.

                            You know
                           I can play number games, too.

If winter + night + ice-skating,

  (Dad's car.)

                                                  then:
The important thing was to bring our noses
up to the blinking red number on the dash
and passionately root for a dropping
temperature.

We'd say things like,
                      "Can you believe it's almost thirteen degrees?"
                                               "Come on, thirteen!"
                                "Thir-teen! Thir-teen! Thir-teen!"


                The point was:
          magic.
(Saying the number, feeling the chill - )
                               Was 
   passing the time in order to make 
a past-           time.                                      
                     Time when 
temperature and                           gas prices 
had a different kind of purchase.


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