Life Buoy

by Wayne F. Burke

church over, another Sunday

morning in the books; the

ride home uneventful

until

beyond the lime kiln

my sister says

she is going to kill herself, and

us

and turns the car toward the trees

in front of the grammar school.

The trees rush to meet us

as my sister and brother tug-of-war

for the steering wheel.

He rises like a buoy

in a sea—

the car wobbles, hits the

curbside—

the roof jars my head loose

in a shriek of metal

scream, engine noise, scrape and

sputter . . .

The car beaches like a whale on the

sidewalk; my brother shouts "Kill yourself—

but not us!"

My sister cries as the engine dies, and

Mrs. Gray, from the corner block, her

arms crossed over her flat chest—

sepulchral-faced—

walks to the

window glass. "You kids alright?" she asks.

"Oh, yes!" my sister says, perking-up, chipper:

"We are fine!"

Wayne F. Burke's poetry, prose, and visual art have been widely published in print and online (including in YELLOW MAMA). He is the author of eight published full-length poetry collections, one short story collection, and two nonfiction works (most recently BUKOWSKI the Ubermensch, Cyberwit.net., 2023). He lives in Vermont (USA).