Fallin' Out

Poem 'bout when I fell outta a moving Chevy Truck one hot, summer day.

Fallin’ Out


Oh my god
I’m falling

Holy shit

I’m falling
I’m falling

Holy shit

Bang

Ten years old
It’s hot
It’s summer
Me & mama
We’re fighting
Yelling at each other
At the video store
I slam the door

Evening sun makes me squint
The truck stinks
“Damn truck.”
(“Damn Kid,” mama thinks as she
peels out of the parking lot)
I sulk in my seat.

“What’s the matter with you?”
Mama starts up again
Roll my eyes, I holler
“I just wanted 1 movie. That’s IT!
This is bullshit
You always get Granddaddy’s porn.”

Mama reaches over,
She slaps me
(changes lanes)
She’s got the green arrow
She goes
I slump against

The truck door
I see the highway coming
I remember
2 summers ago my daddy
slamming my fingers into
the very same door
he didn’t do it on purpose
he was in a hurry

BANG
My skin rolls across the concrete
Intersection
411
Foothills Mall Drive
I’m up, I’m crawling
Alive!
She runs to me,
Takes me in her arms
I cry.