DESPERATE

            DESPERATE

"I want to go home," my mother shouted

As we drove north, away from the place

Where she used to live.

Angrier, she became, and panicked.

Huddled in my old winter coat,

Against the door

As far from me as possible.

The New Jersey turnpike was choked

Over the horizon and beyond.

I clunked the automatic locks.

This is terrible, I thought --

Explaining why, for the hundredth time,

The journey was taking so long.

I felt like the biggest rat in the world

And a liar, too, telling her we'd be home soon,

Meaning my home, not hers.

As we traveled through the rain, she read

Road signs that made her giggle:

"Whippany!" "Parsippany!"

She said Mahwah was really funny,

And Ho Ho Kus a total scream.

Elinore Standard

From Uptown Dogtown