Ode for my dad the driver
I wish you had died driving and not in a
hospital bed.
You were the king of the road, but too
often, a serf of life.
You loved the road and the road loved you.
It forgave you like none of us ever did.
On the road you usually got away with it,
but off road you paid constantly for your fuckups.
While you survived every Dead Man’s Curve,
passing cars on Laurel Canyon, and god only knows what else, it was your body
that killed you.
Sure, we were prepared and got off shock
free as you wasted away.
We had to take the keys away from you and
you lost the place you belonged.
No longer a driver, you became a passenger
to life and a victim to your own body.
Still, I wish there was a place for old
drivers to go. A road they could take that
would provide a last thrill, a chance to blow the horn, and a final turn.
-Adam Markus
May 14, 2015
