At the end of a recent family vacation to Austin, Texas, my family and I concluded with a quick round of rose & thorn: the best and worst parts of our week down South. All 5 of us agreed pretty quickly that all the hours in the car, driving around Texas—with my two sisters and I squished in the back seat, nice and tight—was a standout "thorn." But, as I reflected a bit more on the trip, I realized that some of my favorite parts—the laugh-til-we-cry, sing-at-the-top-of-our-lungs moments—happened in our rental car, all three sisters practically on top of each other with my mom and dad in the passenger and driver's seats, respectively. And with that, I present to you, "A Meditation On The Middle Seat":
Family vacation
June Texas heat
Two hundred square miles
Three sisters, a single car seat
We're all grown now
No boosters, no snacks
Still cranky, still sweating
The A/C's on max
The radio's playing
Can't decide on a station
GPS spits orders
British accent frustration
"Stop singing so loud!"
"Your leg's in my space!"
"I don't feel the air!"
"Did we forget a suitcase!?"
We all know the struggles
We all know the fails
Swirling stench of sunscreen
Forgotten postcard mail
Sister's headphones
Playing loud
Dad's rough driving
Through weird Austin crowds
Every destination
Met first with defeat
Two hundred square miles
Three sisters, a single car seat
Outer thighs touching
There is no escape
Me, stuck in the middle
Only sister still awake
As I gaze out the window
Straight ahead, through the dash
My mind goes to memories
All gone by in a flash
Me and my sisters
Shoulder to shoulder to shoulder
When we thought about the future
What it'd be like to be older
How many car rides we shared
In this very position
Before life got stressful
Before dreams came to fruition
So maybe we bicker
Some jokes are too pointed
But time spent with sisters
Has never disappointed
Even for each time
We stop to roll our eyes
A cherished memory forms
Wiping out the white lies
We remember the friendship
The bond we'll always share
The time we sweat in Texas
Our first adult memories we made there
And so we drove on
Long street after street
Two hundred square miles
Three sisters, a single car seat
