rearview

Yo
I miss the olden days
Back when we would drive my Civic off into the sunset
Windshield glowing with a golden haze

I miss the simpler times
When you could pick me up at 4AM
And hit the road and improvise
With nothing in the GPS (turn left)

Back when we were free to roam
And we brought a pillow with us
So that anywhere could be our home

Not the most romantic, but we'd plan out all our future dates
And snuck in every morning to cop breakfast at a Super 8
I'd waltz in past the front desk, then open the cafe door
You'd slink in and we'd have a banquet that we'd never pay for

Two goody-two-shoes breaking all the rules
Llittle rebels, we were perps
Tryna hide our smirks while slipping Fruity Pebbles in your purse

And as we dipped out of the exit
You would grin as if you'd robbed a bank
Hop into our getaway and gun it on an empty tank

Pull into an vacant station where our car's the only one
There's something meditative about the smell of fresh petroleum

But things have changed since
Cars are losing their appeal
It's been decades since I've even gripped a steering wheel

Elon built a Hyperloop
So no one drives drive a coupe no more
People take their transit-pods through traffic on their private routes
China's got a maglev train, but I would never get aboard

In Russia I heard they could program people so they teleport
Point A to B, always know exactly where you're headed for
Remember when a road trip meant a sojourn, not a metaphor?

Remember rolling windows down
With levers on the metal doors
And reaching back behind your seat
To find that bag of kettle corn?

One foot on the floorboard
Then put on the gas
Yearning for that rearview mirror
I've got one foot in the past

I miss the olden days
Back when we would drive my Civic off into the sunset
Windshield glowing with a golden haze

I miss the simpler times
When you could pick me up at 4AM
And hit the road and improvise
With nothing in the GPS