The Oath
By Matthew Hotham

The muffler is falling off the ass of my Honda
and it sounds brawny
like it has 2 extra cylinders
as I grind the clutch
into the neighborhood
full of sleeping children and stupid cats
that pirouette into my path
to make me eat my heart again and again.

Beside me, you say you don’t want to die—
don’t want to stall out on this block
and have to tap on doors with wreathes and brass knockers,
don't want to be that embarrassed,
again; and I swear to find another girl
with big tattoos, who likes sharp turns,
because in this town everyone drives
their rusted out cars too fast.
Except people, like you, who don’t.

——

Matthew Hotham is Managing Editor of Harvard Review and Poetry Editor of the online journal Slush Pile. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Meridian, Third Coast, anderbo.com, and 32 Poems, among others, and have been featured on Verse Daily. He has a chapbook, Early Art, which was published in 2006 by Turtle Ink Press.

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