Good Spirit, Loose Blood

The future was our kneecaps
Knocking hard against the seats
Of a minivan fleeing
Five thousand gut-wrenching scenes
Each a little more gruesome than the last
And your wrists
Never fully healed
Always broken against the steering wheel
Always lost in the glare of the windshield

Here, still slightly hurt, you signal the next exit
You say “This is more than comfort”
“This is more than most people deserve”
But I’m new here
I was new when you returned
And now I’m middle-aged and sort of shaking
Begging and kind of speaking but not really
“I think I’m trying to remember”

I roll up my sleeves to find you
Also shaking, across the parking lot
At a safe distance

The past is pavement
And loose blood spilling down the shoulder
The photo I found under the rest stop vending machine
The one you gave your niece?
There’s a spirit lost in its gloss
Along the edges
Faint pulse, heart beating
Just before you vanish I’ll let them know
That’s where we’re heading