100 in ‘84

Far beyond my windshield
The sun slid into the corn
Igniting the western sky
In a blaze of pastels and violet.

My red Camaro’s engine whined
As it gulped air into the carburetor.
It came to life
Crouching the country road.

The speedometer slid
Past the century mark
And my heart paced the little car
With its own hefty beat.

Cool air rushed the windows
Tangling my hair
Pounding my ear drums
Exciting my senses.

I buried the pedal
In the floorboard
And we briefly went airborne
Cresting a rise.

This was foolhardy.
But this was also thrilling.

It seemed much time had passed
But it was only seconds
Before I eased the throttle
And gentled the RPM’s
Into something more reasonable.

Pulling onto the gravel shoulder
I sat on the hood
And gave my heart time to settle down.

A cow lowed.
Lights in farm houses winked on.
Crickets chirped.
A dog barked.
Across the darkening horizon a jetliner
Traced its path in silver contrails.
My little red Camaro idled
Thankful I’d been easy with her
Her first time.

This was going to be fun.