He Taught Me to Drive
two ruts across a pasture and down
into a dry creek bed and up
the other side, a cow path really,
soft sand up to the hub caps.
You didn't gun it at the right time,
he said. I knew that before he
said it, but I didn't know how to get
the old Chevrolet out of the crevice
I had wedged it into. You'll figure it out,
he said, and then he took a walk,
left me to my own devices, which until
that moment had included tears.
My face remained nearly dry,
as was the gas tank when he finally
returned, took a shovel out of the trunk,
and moved enough sand from around
the rear tires so he could rock
back and forth and get a little traction.
That country had very little traction;
it had mourning doves, which lay their eggs
on the ground, a few twigs for a nest,
no fluff. Mourning dove. Even the name
sounds soft. Even the notes they coo,
perched on a fence wire. But they are
hatched on the dirt. When they leave the shell,
the wind is already blowing their feathers dry.
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Disclaimer
We do not accept unsolicited submissions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2018 by Marjorie Saiser, "He Taught Me to Drive," from Bosque, (Issue 8, 2018). Poem reprinted by permission of Marjorie Saiser and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2024 by The Poetry Foundation.