did i finally do it? geez.

I just saw a Shell commercial
of this girl riding
on the back
of some guy's motorcycle

and I could almost feel
the night air
see the lights of man
defying nature,
rushing by in a blur
when all that faces me
is the back of his neck

i don't notice my fingers
gripping themselves
laced and
wrapped,
straining muscles in my hands i didn't even
know i
had.

they'll hurt for the next three days,
my hands

and i only know because i asked for a ride
and soared through the warmth of the just barely summer
weightless and
rushing
on the birmingham bridge
skimmed right over
the birmingham bridge and

we never really talked again,
only shared that momentary
closeness of my chest against your back,
mine weighed down with the books of both our backpacks
but free as the wind in my pigtails

we never really
talked again
but everytime i see
that liquid motion, feel the pavement melt away beneath me
i'll always remember
the heat.