I just parallel parked exactly right
for the first time ever. Maybe because
I wasn’t imagining a tsunami
killing me on Sunday in Laguna,
or thinking about my mother alone
at home, or when I dropped the puppy
off the patio (she was fine; I never recovered).
Today, windows down, no radio,
just sky, steering wheel and my hands
were one, and backing into the space,
feeling my tires hug the curb, was a clean
slide into home. That rare fit of perfection
was upon me. And let me say right now,
I didn’t waste it.