105/365

the deal was that my parents               
would match any money i raised to buy it.

sixteen. recently licenced. road ready.

scanning the classified for weeks        
i need nine hundred and eighty dollars
hours spent at the ice cream shop and movie theatre,
make the purchase possible.

old blue is a spotless
1976 midnight blue
volkswagen beetle
with a latte coloured interior.
these cars never feel completly sealed-
drafts and breezes emitting from every hole.
the clutch: clunky
the breaks: tenuious.
equipped with
a decent tape deck,
mediocre speakers,
and adequate heat.

i best understand america
the first few second
i pull away from my house:
on the road.
gassed up.
ready for adventure.
hard to handle thrusting from the speakers.
i could go anywhere.  
drive to jason’s house.
next best thing to freedom.

over the years,
nearly drive it off a cliff.
square the tires.
fit eight people.
get pulled over.
have sex.
drive to new jobs.
get drunk.
have arguments.
go to parties.
cry.
get lost.
fall in love
in it.

never maintained it
cept’ for putting gas in it.
in the end,
after it died on the 101
just passed larkspur,
i paid the tow truck company
twenty five dollars
to take it to the dump.
i never saw its again.