Route 2

Why is divorce so expensive,
Lynn asks, fiddling with the radio dial.
Because it’s worth it, we both say,
laughing louder than we should
with our boys asleep, cheeks pressed
against the vinyl of their car seats.
Soon, I’ll have to give mine his dinner,
a bath, read five picture books.
But for now, I watch Lynn throw
her head back to sing with Aretha,
note that yes, forty still looks good
and the traffic moves perfectly to this song.
Billboards flip past like flashcards,
then we hit a stretch of unbroken green
as the wind through our open windows
sends my hair every which way
making a gorgeous mess of it.









Ona Gritz's poetry has been published in numerous literary journals. In 2007, she won the Inglis House poetry contest, the Late Blooms Poetry Postcard competition, and was nominated for two Pushcart prizes. Her chapbook of poems, Left Standing, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2005. She is also a children's author and columnist for the online journal, Literary Mama.