The Beginning of the Road of Ice

Remember the time when we first knew?
On that sloppy, wide-eyed ride, the three of us

kids in the backseat, no seatbelts
to keep us tight and safe? We grabbed

the front seat, remember? Leaning in,
leaning hard, we held on as Dad jerked

the car this way and that, around one blind turn
and then blinder still on that snake-night road.

“Why are you driving so fast?!” we screamed.
“We can go faster in the dark,” he said,

“’cause you can see the other guy’s
headlights coming.” But the thing is,

we didn’t see it coming, this drive,
this beginning of the road of ice

and bourbon and night after night of near misses
and hits. Now we know—but, remember this too:

we didn’t crash that night. Though we’ve had our
accidents, our mangled frames and body work,

we made it home.
That’s what we did.
We made it home.