no, you didn't say you love me
only the way I drive
that you felt safe
even though I played the steering wheel
like a pencil
middle, index, thumb of my left hand
tracing arcs and loops in the
smoky heat,
right resting on my own lap

not like the twin girders
of my cousin's arms
bolted down, but
buckling as shoulders rise toward an
invisible ceiling
when they cross
sparks leap from scraping bones,
nobody can exhale

no, you didn't say you love him
only you didn't feel safe in his car