This poem appeared in print in the Summer 2015 issue of Big Muddy.

before you

it was when I knew everything

it was no deposit
no return and bottles were glass

there was a choice to be made
both on AM and FM

when a screwdriver and some aluminum foil
pulled in HBO and finally there was
good sex on TV

before ketchup was a vegetable before
new coke
old navy and perestroika

before electronic ignition switches
and 24-point service plans
when a man

could get in his car and drive the hell
down the road and never look

would never look back
before I couldn’t do one thing

right powerpoint

crashes in the conference room
it’s too loud in the cubicle

when the numbers aren’t right
when the spreadsheet doesn’t care

before email and ichat
and youtube

and there wasn’t any milk
for the kids’ breakfast and I’m
late for the pick-up

so I do what I can now which is drive
the hell out of that car

like I did before

and you call and you say, just come
home and I come home to you

and I know everything again