Bumper Cars

When our friends

in New Orleans

invited us

to their school’s Spirit Night,

we said yes, of course.

Our boy had never seen bumper cars before.

Fresh from our visit to neighborhoods

where beautiful old side-hall shotgun homes

stood shoulder-to-shoulder

with their blighted, empty cousins,

this crashing on purpose

looked a little crazier, even, than usual.

But memories of our own childhoods

complete with bumper car adventures

(crackling thrill

of electricity overhead

punctuated by sharp jolts

of anticipated impact)

outweighed his fears.

Our promise of safety

held true for one more day.

We drove and crashed and laughed

and steered directly towards

yet another crash.

No one got hurt.

And everyone went home smiling.

(Thanks to the women of http://3x3x365.blogspot.com/

for their continuing inspiration.)