Driving this stagecoach
down a rutted dirt road
at top speed
the horses are panting hard
and the dust crowds my nose
The lone passenger, the one in the dark veil,
slouches against the cushions,
smirking,
telling me
that all the best things are behind me now.
the profound things
the sexy things
the meaningful things,
all behind me now
But I’ve got my horses at a gallop
and I’ve got a plan
There’s a bend up ahead
and if I turn the team just right –
sharp & sudden –
I can flip this coach
and crush that passenger
I can jump off just in time, like in the movies, with a perfect somersault
and walk the rest of the way alone
leaving that wrecked stagecoach
behind me now.
Catherine Gewertz has been a cocktail waitress, garage band singer, pie baker, and typewriter poet-for-hire. To earn a steady living, though, she’s a newspaper reporter. She loves a nice turn around the two-step floor, and a glass of Bourbon, neat.