Jurassic Parking Lot
Durham is famous for its dinosaurs.
I used to think they were real,
and I was going to ride one but
when we got out of the car I saw that
they weren’t moving, and I just
thought they were sad, or old,
but now I know they’re just statues.
Someone stole the head of the Brontosaurus
when I was in 7th grade, but
they gave it back.
That’s the one I would have ridden –
the Brontosaurus. We were going to
march out of the museum parking lot
and take a triumphant walk through
the bare-knuckled woods near 9th street, and
we were going to tear down some trees
and sit on a few cars, and I was going to
feel safe because
I’m riding a freaking dinosaur.
And we were going to wander down Angier Avenue
which stumbles through
twisted trees like the gang signs
in the fingers of its children,
and we were going to stop in front of that sketchy
prostitute motel off of the 85 exit,
and I was going to shout
“You’re all princesses! Each and every
one of you! ” and the pimps were
going to go for their guns,
but decide to run when they saw that
I’m riding a freaking dinosaur.
We were going to go home the back
way down Holloway, past Grove Park
where the houses look like
sad, old people in their rocking chairs
and they were going to yell at us to slow down.
But we were going to race past Ashley’s house anyway
and the trees in her front yard
were going to wave their hands with the rain
and she was going to join them
and be so, so impressed
at how well
I’m riding a freaking dinosaur.
We were going to go home
to my house in Greenwood
and he was going to place
his head through my bedroom window
and we were going to pull an all-nighter.
But our sleepover was going to be interrupted
by four gunshots off in the distance
and he was going to shudder
in fear,
and I was going to console him
and get to be the strong one.
He was going to be there with me
in the morning,
in the kitchen
when my parent’s unwashed words would
finally spill out of their mouths
like sad, old silverware,
when they would tell my brother and I
they were getting divorced,
and we were going to
run off, the three of us.
And he was going to run
as fast as he could
and we were going to hold on
as tight as we could
and I was going to feel safe
as long as I was riding
that dinosaur.
And on the days when I forget
I go back to the museum
and he reminds me
who the strong one is.
