Family Vacation in the Scorches of Heat and Drunk Sincerity

Lightning tattoos a dead end night.

Before the alarm clock’s scream,
children are already awake.

Toys and cartoons lead the way.
Like the time alcohol brought
a spouse out from hiding.

Maybe it was St. Patrick’s Day or
Cinco de Mayo or Dyngus Day or
New Year’s Eve, but it happened.

Not the way your ancestors may have
experienced it, not the way animals
have instinct, although, you’ve dreamt
about getting mammals drunk.

No U-Turn on this highway.

Yield to your dreams for the sake
of others’ plans and punch life’s
timecard on schedule.

Like the time I left my rage
at the side of a peppermint field and
stumbled through the age of growing up.

Lazy bones sat with rolled cigarettes
and jugs of homemade wine.
They offered their outdated advice
and said phrases similar to,

“What’s the price of rice in China
got to do with American supermarkets?”

They fell down, assumed the fetal dance
and poured gasoline into flowerbeds.