DRIVER’S ED
Emily, a teen somewhere between
permit and license,
needs hours at the wheel
to drive legal.
Returning to Michigan
through the U. P.,
a roadology opportunity
and bonus,
learning to two-car-convoy.
Confident behind the wheel,
when faced with a map and the task,
“Where’s B?
We’re A,”
Emily saw forks in the road going every which way.
She had been trained to drive,
just not to where.
Once on the road,
“Let Emily follow,”
seemed a good rule
though it didn’t allow
for adult loss of control.
Heated discussions
about getting to B
on highways (Who knew?) too new to appear
on our dueling GM and Jaguar GPS gear.
Fortunately, grandchildren cell phone control,
never in doubt,
kept wandering cars
on the same route.
Having been taught to drive by the rules,
“Heed speed limit signs,” comes to mind,
Emily could be excused for being nonplussed
when others abused, passed and took chances.
What do you say?
Black and white roads, once shared,
become gray.
No work in classrooms
or on instructors‘ trails
could prepare for the gut wrench in rain,
discovering a soaring tornado of black
was not part of the storm
but smoke from a fire,
the car's occupants lost
in a tangle of hoses,
ambulances and EMTs.
Emotional rescue --
follow the traffic over a bypass,
a convenient detour
with a bird’s eye view.
Reality sans TV.
Drive on.
Push on,
day two.
Getaway done,
home is now number one.
Can’t get there too soon
so speed up the travel.
Let the neat ends of our holiday unravel
into stiff limbs, backaches and overall
stress.
Yes.
There were challenges on the road,
but Emily took them in stride,
contributed by far
more than her share to our ride
and maybe learned something
beyond driving
with a car.
DRK
July 18, 2013
9/17/13
