We were standing
under my dripping car
He shook his consternation
won’t last long
he said
increasing my shaken consternation
tread’s almost a gonner
he said
see here?
he said
I looked with consternation
and no comprehension
but wisely
as if I agreed
ah yes
I said
rear end’ll take off on you
you’ll be driving along confident
and you’ll end up in a ditch
he said
I understood such endings
and resolved
to replace the wet dripping tires
with two shiny new sort of porcupiney
ones with those little nubs all over the treads
put them on the front
he said
put the old front ones on back here
he said
safer
he said
I shivered
much like a porcupine
but not so knowledgeably
