David J. Thompson grew up in Hyde Park, New York, and currently teaches
English at University Liggett School in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan. His
interests include jazz and minor league baseball. His chapbook, Outliving
Elvis, will be available this fall.
Where Are We?
The note she left said the vacation
out West hadn’t been what she’d hoped,
couldn’t see their relationship going
anywhere good anymore. He loosened
his tie, got a beer from the fridge,
and sat down at the kitchen table.
A week before he’d gotten them lost
driving south of Rapid City looking
for the Badlands. They’d ended up
on some unpaved road with billboards
warning about fetal alcohol syndrome
and speed limit signs full of bullet holes.
Where are we? she asked. Where the hell
are we? He told her he didn’t know exactly,
couldn’t find the road on the map, didn’t see
any place he could stop to ask for directions.
He thought she was sort of laughing at the time,
now he wasn’t so sure.
