Aubade for the Road

I am not into public sex

 

but when both you and the person you’re seeing

live with parents

it’s less a thrill and more a necessity

 

you get to know every bathroom in town

that has a sheltered entrance and a door that locks

 

a romantic evening in

is driving 30 miles at 2am to an abandoned boat ramp

so you can do it without having to look over your shoulder between strokes.

 

you invent positions that are less Kama Sutra

and more bowl of spaghetti

 

and you pray none of your friends or family will need a ride

because the whole car stinks of passion

 

even when you’re alone

 

you start taking the backstreets

so you can be on the lookout for abandoned parking lots

 

it’s a lot like when I lived in that car

that summer when I got comfortable with loneliness
I spent months bathing in whichever bathroom
had the biggest and most private stall

I’d cover the windows with bedsheets to keep the streetlights out

and the fear in, but if I wanted a good night’s sleep I would drive out of the city

until I could make out Orion again

 

my neck and back always hurt from sleeping in a Twister position

 

wouldn’t give rides because the whole car smelled like unwashed stress

 

and those secluded asphalt deserts were the best
spots to get trashed and pass out in the driver’s seat

 

Rumi compared love to being drunk

but for me it is more like sobering up

 

owning a car is a lot like being in love

in that there is so much you can do

inside of it

~~~

Troy Kody Cunio lives in Orlando. You can find all his poems and things at troykodycunio.com