Here’s a poem from my chapbook, Plant a Garden Around Your Life. The Book Quote Wednesday keyword is “Stone” and you’ll see how that fits if you dive in. Worth the read. #bookqw

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A Glorious Day

The car broke down in the snow

North of New York City.

Didn’t sleep at all last night,

‘Cause I worked my second job

Typing transcripts

‘Til the sun came up.

I worked all day, then headed north

To Westchester County,

To college.

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And it really was a glorious day

A memorable one

Looking back on it now.

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So the damned overheat light

Glowed bright on the dashboard

Of my seventeen-year-old car.

It was after nine o’clock in the evening

And I was stuck on the Hutchinson River Parkway

In the middle of Scarsdale,

With no credit cards,

No triple-A,

And $2.49 to my name.

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And it really was a glorious day

No matter how bad it sounds

Looking back on it now.

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I said a quick prayer

A compassionate stranger stopped

Prayer must work, ‘cause he loaned me ten bucks

To get home

And a flashlight

To find the problem.

The problem was that

I needed my radiator replaced.

Great.

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Catchin’ a cold,

With sleep deprivation,

Stone cold broke

And out of options –

As I eased the cooled-off car

Up the exit ramp,

Stopped at a pay phone

And called my sister.

As usual.

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But it really was a glorious day

No sarcasm intended.

I’ll always remember it that way.

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The State Trooper was kind enough to wait

For the tow truck to come

And then he dropped me off at a motel.

And off he drove

As I discovered

That the tow might take her VISA by phone

But motels do not.

Unless my sister’s card could be run through their machine,

I was out of luck.

It’s 11pm, and a mile and a half

From the nearest train station.

It starts raining.

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But it really was a glorious day

I know you don’t believe me at all

Yet I think back on it fondly.

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If I am careful I should have enough to get home

A taxi to the railroad is too expensive.

Walking through the six-inch slush,

On my way to Metro North,

I figure I can spend a dollar on something to eat,

But nothing’s open.

So I caught the last train to Manhattan

(Oh, God – its warm, I can sit!)

And fell asleep is if drugged.

On an empty stomach.

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But it really was a glorious day

(Wait, it gets better)

A wonderful memory on my life.

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I scared the train cleaner

Half to death

In the bowels of  Metro North’s station.

It seems I never heard them pull into

Grand Central Station.

I wonder why.

Let me out of here –

I still have to catch a train to Long Island.

Yes, I know I shouldn’t be back here.

No, I don’t have a pass.

Can I go now?

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It truly was a glorious day

One I shall recall fondly

For the rest of my life.

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One vendor was open

A Snickers bar

Is better than nothing

On an empty stomach, right?

I took the subway to Penn Station

And just missed the last train

To Long Island.

There was one at three in the morning.

I’ll wait.

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The Long Island Railroad makes you

Change from an electric train

To a diesel one

At Babylon Station.

The hell with it.

I’ll take a taxi

From Babylon to Bay Shore

Rather than wait another 45 minutes.

There’s my driveway,

And if you don’t take a check you can throw me in jail,

As long as it has a bed.

I’m calling in sick tomorrow.

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But the glorious thing

Was to be able to quantify

Something that I had never been able to isolate before.

I was miserable.

I was tired.

I was unhappy.

But I was not depressed.

My condition had responded to the medication.

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Depression is not sadness.

Depression is not tiredness.

It is hard to put into words,

But I never would have been able to describe it at all

If it had not been for

That glorious day.

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Wendy S. Delmater