Reversal

Mom is driving. Dad is holding printer
paper stamped with “Mapquest” plus three pages
of directions that, like boundaries, are
twisted just a little bit. In stages:
A/C dies. Your brothers pee in bottles,
splashing on your sock. She drives too far so
Daddy makes her backtrack. Hungry. “Not ’til
later! Just sit quiet ’til tomorrow.”
So, again, you picture strangers naked.
“This is where the turn should be. There is no
turn??? Just turn around. Go home – I just can’t
take it. Fuck it. I said fuck it, Margot.”
Two weeks later: school starts with Miss Mason.
“Um. So yeah, like, that was my vacation.”

Elliott Schwebach

If you have any thoughts about this poem,  Elliott Schwebach would be pleased to hear them