Driving Aimlessly on Spanish Roads

The day started on the wrong side of the road

began with tears for friends lost

their holidays over

she folded herself into my arms

I told her that there would be more friends

even better friends

I felt her chest heave against me

 

I suggested we go, right away

and so

we ran to the rental car

hopped in

I drove

but she was in charge

we started on the wrong side of the road

“Dad!”

 

we came to a T-junction

I listened for the call from the back seat

“Left!”

we were away

the cracks in the roads got wider

got deeper

the buildings spread out

standing alone like lonely first teeth

the corn in the fields was high and talked to us in whispers

through the open car windows

 

“Right!”

we looked for signs of life but there were none

the urban desert lay before us

heat rolling across it

finding us

streetlights blinked on with dusk

some flickered

others had given up the ghost completely

 

“Right and then left!”
unmarked roads yawn and stretch

bending to the line and beyond

there is talk between us

the words instantly forgotten

the embers they sparked

destined to burn on and on

 

“Reverse!”

            “We can’t reverse!”

“Left!”

we drive

until, like those holiday friends

we are long lost

but we have nowhere to be

and Spain, for tonight

is ours

 

“Right!”

“Right again!”

“Left and left and left and left! A circle!”

 

the moon is high and the night is low and heavy

it tugs on our eyelids

we drive

my daughter hums in the back seat

unintentional lullabies

we pull over to the side of the road

the adventure over

or maybe just beginning

 

“Look!”

her finger shoots between us from the back seat

we see a sign not too far in the distance

and realise

that we are right back

where we started from

almost