Why We Took the Coastal Evacuation Route

We took our souvenirs and our unemployment checks.
We took our interest in the Kennedy assassination
and our misguided careers. We took snacks. We took
our x-rays, our drugs, and our best costumes. We took
our troubled past. We took our unfinished projects,
we took money, we took tools. And we took the pets,
who looked worried up until the last minute. Then we
took the coastal evacuation route, driving all night until
we found a place to stop and figure out what's next.
But that should be clear soon, because out here, when
you turn on the radio, instead of music you hear boats
whispering to each other. Big ones and little ones,
lining up behind the breakwater, waiting for their
chance to sail away. What do they know? Where are
they going? The pets are working together to adjust our
antenna and we expect to be the first to hear the news.

Copyright © 2006 Eleanor Lerman All rights reserved
from Our Post-Soviet History Unfolds
Sarabande Books
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission