~ a rideshare poem ~ 

“Well, we have 10 minutes” says the man who paid

“Tell me your story” he laughs

And because we do have 10 minutes

I tell him a version of my story

(Even though he did not ask nicely)

Not the whole truth

Or nothing but the truth neither

But the bearable truth

Late enough on a Saturday night

No one needs to be taken down

I tell him I was indeed in Appalachia

That I followed a girl

And because these are educated folks

I include the fact that she worked at the University

I share that after things went bad

I worked alone in West Virginia for several years

That I just returned and the contrast is stark

I say I live with my brother

And name the place

And call the place boujee, which it is

The drunk wife and the man mutter over one another

Sure that life is looking up now

That I’m back in the right place

Then they stumble on their way

Home to a mansion

Big enough it’s divided

A walkway between wings

A three car garage

Two luxury rides in the roundabout



Mark Danowsky is a Philadelphia poet, author of the poetry collection As Falls Trees (NightBallet Press), Editor of ONE ART: A Journal of Poetry, and Senior Editor at Schuylkill Valley Journal.