Dads, Part III: Mechanics (Poem)

This poem explores the one time Dad and I worked on a car together.

Mechanics

Both beneath the hood
of my ’99 Cavalier, Dad
ratchets the alternator nuts
and, with crowbar wedged
against the engine block,

I release the tension arm.
The timing belt slips loose.
He raises the blackened part;
I cradle one new in its place
and step to the driver’s window,

reach through, turn the key.
The engine catches,
overriding the lull of dusk
as our shadows converge
in the gathering night.