I Live Like I Drive in poetry

I live like I drive a car
if you get me on the road
with a clear destination
I am pretty much the best
I can read a map book faster
than you can fumble the words
into your GPS
just above the speed limit
with a cautious confidence

I will get there before the faster drivers
because instead of simply speeding
I’ve already done the reading
so I know all the short-cuts
I can adapt to whatever the
situation is needing
brother, I’m like silk
brother, it’s like mother’s milk

I also can’t parallel park for shit
the two driving tests I’ve ever taken
I passed by the minimum points to do it
I will back up, stutter forward
fumble turn and stumble starboard
because I’m so afraid of fucking up
and damaging the bumpers
my heart rate betrays me
an army of shitty thumpers
I overthink everything
out of fear that the next
fuck-up is so so near

the beginnings and the endings
I am really not that great
the beginnings and the endings
I’m a failed state
but when I’m in the middle there
I’m really good and
I really feel alive
I live like I drive