Car Crash and Hot Chocolate

Held steady

Welcome, and a warm first hello to the newcomers!

I’m so happy you’re here.

Happy Pride, everyone!

Most of these Sunday poems center loosely around a tarot card, and this week we’re checking in with the World.

This card reminds me that safety and protection are found through balance.

CAR CRASH AND HOT CHOCOLATE

My family got rear-ended in our brand-new Dodge Intrepid,
The one so red, like Handmaid gowns, all candy-apple.
(My parents had never owned a new car before.
I'm not sure their parents ever had.)
The kid driving the pickup behind us meant no destruction:
A youthful moment of wonder drew his eye from the road. 
I was sleeping through puberty in the backseat, cheek pressed to window pane.
I woke to my thick glasses flying forward off my face.
Neck whipping, I felt unbraced,
But the safety measures worked just fine,
So we all survived.
We crashed outside a row of suburban homes:
A measured line of pastel candies laid out before us,
Each different in its way but undeniable in its belonging.
A woman came outside,
Offered us seats on her couch, away from the cold and the bright,
Made me a cup of hot chocolate, which felt overwhelmingly kind.
I was cupped by her as well,
Held steady in a collapsing world,
Rooted to the knowledge that help can come from thin air, from dark night.

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