//written on November 21, 2007.
i was in the college library while studying for finals with the boy who inspired it. i was stuck in a relationship with him that felt stagnant and revolved around our carnal concerns. he always said "you can't buy a car without test driving it" in reference to first sleeping with someone before committing to them. this went on for years. what i thought was love, was only his lust for my body. to this day, he still argues that he cared for me.//

Have you ever noticed those men that name their cars?
Camille, Bertha, Alice, Diane, Baby Girl…
All names of women.

A man once told me that you can’t buy a car without test driving it…
You gotta see how she rides
How she handles his last minute decisions
(to make that wide turn)
How she purrs…
You gotta check out her headlights…
Her interior…
How fast she can go on that speedometer…
And most of all…
How if you strip her down,
Would she still be a beauty?

No one ever thinks about maintenance…
After all those drives…
After all those burnouts…
After all those races…

Who pays for it?
Would he pay for it?
Or would she be stuck on the newspaper ads
Waiting for another
Man to see her as a treasure
Despite the trash that he’s left of her…
Is he a buyer?
Or just another
One of those freeloaders
That sweet-talk their way just to test her…out?

Luxury…
Dependable…
Affordable…
They’re all the same.

Made of the same parts…
With all the same hearts…

A man once told me that you can’t buy a car without test driving it…
Well, for our sake, they better do some background checks.