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
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