Contributor: J.K. Durick

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You probably remember learning to parallel park
That stumbling block beginning to drive, passing
The driver’s test, twist, turn, then straighten out,
Or the time you found that place two city blocks
Away from your cousin’s wedding reception and
Spent the whole time worrying about leaving it
Your second largest investment out there where
Likely thieves and/or vandals circled in, planning;
You discover that that’s what parking is all about
Following signs, seeking, finding, taking a chance,
We find a place for ourselves, a snug fit, or ample
We must take this time to fit in with all the others
Check the mirror, twist a bit in our seat, this way
Then that, in reverse things go by much too fast
And then we’re there by the curb, lessons learned
Then carried out; we measure and mark our place
In the world, step out, lock up, and secretly pray
That the inevitable in all this doesn’t include us
The parking ticket, the passing scrape, or scratch
An empty space, a missing car, the long walk home.


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J. K. Durick is a writing teacher at the Community College of Vermont and an online writing tutor. His recent poems have appeared in Shot Glass Journal, Black Mirror, Third Wednesday, Thrush Poetry Journal, and Madswirl.