Road Trip
for Missy & Veronica
From the Northeast Extension to Route 380,
the road to the Catskills was paved with exorcisms
of dark secrets, fragmented dreams, nightmares,
fears and phantoms; a home movie that snaps
before the final frame. Safe in the car,
we let the dam burst, long-buried memories
swept over us. We gasped for breath.
Strange how he beat the love right out of me, said one.
No one could hear us tell our stories.
We let them tumble from our mouths like angry bees,
stinging us, the three of us exhausted by the telling
and retelling, as we gave voice to half-forgotten truths
we deny, wondering what held us in ourselves, saved us
from screaming out of our own skin.
*
Eileen M. D’Angelo, author of The Recovering Catholic’s Collection (Moonstone Press), is the Executive Director of Mad Poets Society and former Editor of Mad Poets Review, has been published in Rattle, Manhattan Poetry Review, Paterson Literary Review, Drexel Online Journal, Wild River Review, Philadelphia Stories, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Poets, and other publications.
From The Archives: Published on This Day
- Two Poems by KG Newman (2023)
- Two Poems by Rachel Custer (2022)
This is a strong poem which brought back memories of my many trips to the Catskills. But — I was stopped by “Northeast Extension to Route 380” which I could not locate either in memory or Google maps. So this poem began with an as-yet unsolved riddle. Is Rt 380 a new road — perhaps built since my visits to the area you so aptly describe as “paved with exorcisms/ of dark secrets, fragmented dreams, nightmares”? Thank you for this one. (Martha Deed at Sporkworld)
Thanks so much for your comment! It’s been awhile since this Catskills retreat, I remember that was one of the routes that we traveled on this trip… (for some reason I had it in my notes…) Such a scenic area!
What a powerful poem, Eileen! Very relatable and it flows beautifully
Thanks, Amy! Good to hear from you… Miss your face!