THINGS

things
if I believed that life should be fair
I would have made a bigger stink
this beautiful Saturday morning
when I packed my things for the beach
went down the stairs
and outside to my driveway
to find the back rear tire of my jeep
completely flat
and if on this morning
I believed in the gods
which I sometimes do
I would have been sure
they were laughing
up in their clouds
or on top of their mountains
on golden chairs
I would have been sure
they were mocking me
because they caught me
when I was feeling pretty damn good
sober and rested and excited
filled to the brim with enthusiasm
for the day
and how quickly that dissipated
as I dropped my things
got out the jack and the spare tire
wrestled with the lug nuts
(which seemed to have been tightened
by the world’s strongest man)
and went through the ordeal
of loosening the wheel
which was rusted to the axle
knocking the whole jeep off the jack
while sweat poured from my face and my hair
and I cursed fate
damned fate
until I’d gotten the tire back on again
pulled out a long screw from the rubber tread
fixed it with a home repair kit
and went back on my way to the beach
with the reminder that sometimes
many times
things just cannot go the way you wish them to