Flat Tire

Stalled, left on the side of motion. I have to decombust the engine, exit my capsule, look at my damage, repair it, and return to the journey. The tire is destroyed; the journey cannot continue as imagined. These necessary repairs snatch me into actuality at the most inopportune moments, but benefit me despite the inconvenience. Don't be discouraged, this tire has served you well. The purpose of this demise shows you how inconstant life can be, how random acts yield areas of growth.

Dirt on my face which is twisting curse words between bitter lips cancels any positivity that might occur. Detrimental seems this product failure and missed is the higher purpose for the pause of secure life. Maybe they are preparation for future tests?

Maybe they are meant to slowly bleed you like harsh words in the soft bed of night, or final passings after the fall...but perhaps you don't fade and finally fold from their inevitable slices. And so where do you go in a car that cannot drive?

I look at the deflated useless tire, still coated with the grime from the miles I've pointed you over, and I see disillusionment. My feelings are selfish; you should have a grand exit. You, beat-ass piece of rubber, have treaded many realms of actions and possibility. My life was carried by your weight and you silently bore the burden. My dirty skin and lopsided limp to safety is not your eulogy because I took you so many different places you would have never seen.

But you, malfunctioning and detrimental, must be replaced for the motion to continue, for the plan to develop and endure. Our moments together of late have been distant, sad, and separated--even mechanical; One must escape from the circular grind before the neglected skin is devoured.

I load you into my trunk, carrying the carcass of your past commitments, and take you into my life as a retired contributor. I must care for the others better than I looked after you. I thank you for the times we rolled together and the bumps endured. You, without suitability, gaze at me and don't understand my care or my appreciation. Flat tire, you have been replaced.