Fifth-Wheel

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FIFTH-WHEEL


I used to follow comfortably behind

pick-up trucks or trailers loaded down


with a frayed couch or maybe a handful 

of water heaters. They wouldn’t let 


someone transport such a haul, I used 

to think, unless they were sure they knew


what they were doing. In the ensuing 

years I have since acquired a load 


of my own and an old trailer, a tangle 

of ratchet straps. I click them down 


and give it a shake with a half-

hearted “that’s not going anywhere,” 


like everyone else who hauls around 

the odd angles of their life behind them,


breath partially held and eyes bouncing

back and forth from road to rearview.


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