Driving is Cheaper and Better for The Environment Than Flying

A Poem

That part where your body merges with the car and road,

you are shaped like a seat, you are bumpy like a road,

where your mind swirls with the passing cars, especially at night, when everything is blurry lights

the part where you push to remain cheerful, four or so hours in, four or so hours left to go,

the radio a variety of all sorts of things you really don’t want to hear from today’s pop with the lyrics that pop brain cells one by one,

talk radio with the trashy commentary and hot takes no one should listen to, car conversation about nearby cows, traffic, are we there yet, hunger,

we drive through the night, teenage baby girl in back playing video games, you at the wheel

and me, still smiling, through the bumping, the dark, the lights, the distance, with my hand your knee,

your hand on the steering wheel, your other hand on my hand.

Jenny Justice is a poet mom who longs to bring poetry to life in ways that spark empathy, connection, joy, and feeling. She loves writing love poems, climate change awareness poems, poems for kids, and of course, poems about poetry and poets. You can follow her on Medium and at Jenny Justice, Writer. You can follow her poetry at Justice Poetic.