Car Conversations with My Sister
My eyes flicker from the road
to my sister slumping in the passenger seat.
My fingers wrap around the steering wheel
and my knuckles turn white.
The words tumble
from my mouth
before I can convince myself I’m faking it.
“I go to therapy.”
There, I said it.
Four words and I’m met with silence.
My eyes search for hers.
She faces the window.
I choke the steering wheel,
waiting and waiting.
My face burns pink like
last night when she applied my blush.
My rapid breaths and squealing brakes
fill the car as I get to a stop sign.
Finally, she opens her mouth.
I anticipate the relief,
imagining a butterfly
taking flight with my burdens.
And
she
laughs.
She replies with two words
that break my heart.
“You’re lying.”
So I do what I've done since the beginning,
I laugh along and answer,
“Good joke, right?”
Alana Voglewede attends St. Joseph High School; Voglewede tied for third place in the Charles Crupi Memorial Poetry Contest for Michigan High School students. For more information on the contest, please visit the Albion College English Department website.
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