A Parking Lot Sky

I promise I won’t fall in love

Under a parking lot sky

I’ll walk twenty miles

To the nearest surprise

And meet somebody

That won’t forget me

He’ll help me find my car

And discourage me from leaving

But my backseat’s full of plans

And my trunk has big ideas

Won’t you miss the sticking around

He asks me, scratching at his eyebrow

Won’t you be sad when you’re so far away

And your life sounds like an old country song

I’ll laugh and ask him what he’d call the song

And he says ‘A Parking Lot Sky’

Six cigarettes later I’m sipping a milkshake

Near a supermarket in LaMotte

Waiting to meet somebody with a lead

On a two-bedroom I can’t afford

And my wheels sputter back a little

Just a few inches

Scares the shit out of me though

So I check to make sure I’m in Park

Park, yup, we’re good

Just a fluke

Old cars got old personalities

And most of them are pissed off

The wheels spit some more

Kick up some sand

And make me drop my milkshake

Out the window

I see the mess it leaves

As the car reverses back out of the parking lot

Almost hitting this nice looking lady

With a shopping cart

That has nothing but two bottles of lotion

And a bag of potato chips in it

Once I’m on the road

I hop into the backseat

With the rest of my plans

Since I won’t be driving anyway

Okay, I think, fine by me

If the car wants to go somewhere

Let it

I’m not the one God gave tires to

After about an hour, I fall asleep

It’s almost like riding a train

And I can tell my car knows what it’s doing

Aside from almost running down a woman with nice skin

It seems to ride on the safe side

Keeping plenty of space between cars

And braking for red lights with time to spare

When I wake up

I check your phone

And it’s seven after eight

I scratch the morning out of my hair

And realize the car’s stopped

And I’m stopped along with it

In front of a sign that says—

‘Where to?’

Where to?

How the hell should I know?

The car was supposed to be in charge of that

I get out and walk up to the sign

Trying to see if I can find a clue

The sign’s covered in what looks like paper

So I pull a piece back

And see there’s something under it

I peel back page-after-page

Until I’ve got all of them off

Except for the top row

But even with that still covered

I can see what I’m looking at

It’s a photo of the guy

Back at the parking lot sky

So I get back in the car

But this time

It needs me to drive

I get out

Unload my trunk

Empty out my backseat

Then start moving ahead of myself

I promised myself I wouldn’t fall in love

But a promise to yourself is the hardest one to keep

Since you’re the only one

Holding you to it

And I have trouble holding on to anything

I’m just slippery like that

When he sees me pull up

I can tell I got here just in time

He wasn’t going to forget me

But he was going to forgive me for leaving

And forgiveness put on love

Is like cold water on a fire

It makes things sweet

When they want to be savored

I get out

Walk over

And wait around

For him to say something clever

Instead he puts his hands on my waist

And gives my neck a kiss

What kind of a man kisses your neck before your lips?

I guess I’m gonna find out