ICY IN SPOTS

ICY IN SPOTS

Pamela Nocerino

 

Red neon blinks like it celebrates the danger,

and we take it, as tradition dictates, as a triple dare

to trundle out with calendars as stuffed as our bellies.

The car warms, and one of us begins the annual tale

of sliding tires, in a spinning car, before seatbelts, when I70 was only two lanes

and Grandma folded her body around the tin of her powdered pecan cookies.

“Nothing was broken!” we all yell together,

referring to bones and cookies, but not in that order.

The person holding this year’s batch feels the weight of their responsibility,

and repositions the old tin for the fifth time on their lap as the car pulls out.

The details slip with each retelling.

It’s not always Grandma who protects the cookies,

but it is always those cookies.

And the ending still keeps us on the road—

Nothing is broken. 

 

 

 

Pamela Nocerino is a writer who once helped build a giant troll in the Rocky Mountains. She enjoyed a brief career on stage in Denver until she needed health insurance and became a dedicated middle school teacher for over 20 years. Pamela earned a BA in theater arts and an MA in writing. She began submitting work during the pandemic lockdown and now has published works of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, short plays, songs, and essays.