Backseat Confessional

Backseat Confessional

Backseat confessional
belt digging in the spine
riding out the guilt you have
crossing every line

Speaking secrets to my neck
words you’d never say
underneath the kitchen lights
in the light of day

Parked beneath the broken lamp
the river running black
windows fogging up
before the engine cools the stack

Wrappers on the floorboard
and receipts inside the dash
bad decisions back in session
waiting for the crash

You climb across the console
with a lazy jagged grin
knee into my ribs
pushing hair against the skin

Tasting like the cinnamon
and gasoline and cheap
every time I swear I’m done
I’m digging in too deep

Springs complain beneath the weight
jeans are half undone
hoodie riding up
to bare the bruise from where we won

Street noise fades to nothing
just a hum behind the glass
world shrinking to the skin
the moments passing fast

I grab your hips and pull you down
letting inches land
confession on my lap
falling right into the hand

I know this doesn’t save us
doesn’t fix the broken door
or why we ghost each other
when we can’t take anymore

You call me your mistake
then kiss me like a dare
seeing if the glass will break
with tension in the air

I tell you we are wrong
in all the ways that make it right
both of us too far away
to answer phones tonight

You freeze up in the middle
putting fingers on my jaw
eyes searching frantically
for a sudden flaw

Voice soft
you ask me
if you’re just a gap to fill
it cuts the heat like winter
making everything go still

I push the hair back from your face
I tell you it is real
the only thing this week
that gave me anything to feel

I mean it
with the adrenaline running
in the blood

When it ends
we lie there
listening to the car
talking about leaving
running somewhere far

Changing up the hair
and dropping out of every rule
swimming to the surface
of the miserable pool

I tell you that you could
and say I probably might
knowing that we’re stuck here
in the middle of the night

But with your laughter in my ear
fizzing low and deep
it feels like a promise
that we might actually keep

Straighten up the clothes
and wipe the fog upon the glass
one last kiss of salt
before we let the moment pass

You hop into the front
and start the engine with a shake
driving in the silence
with the ache we can’t unmake