Your Grease Monkey

by Sarah Ferris

Life now is a lot like a model A,
back when they were new. Everyone’s
trying to create a horseless me—

one that can be left out of the barn,
out in rain, one that’s
self-sustaining, not self-deprecating.

And it seems to be coming along,
this journey into a future
that includes the Gull Wing.

This journey, where women
develop cleaner lines
to slide through their encounters—

yes, it seems to be coming along,
this journey
where women invent new suspension

to withstand bumpy bits,
low-profile tires to hold curves.
This journey,

where they don’t need someone else
to buff wax, check air,
wipe the dip stick. All right, all right,

they need a specialist to pull
the carburetor and retool the fittings,
but their girlfriends are really good

grease monkeys and get in their guts
to change the air filter before they choke
on their own pollution. So yes,

it’s coming along, this journey
to a horseless me where everything’s
different and yet so much the same.