Green Alpine Ribs

Took my father,
his wife
and my Grandmother
to the Alps

drove them there myself

My father turned to me
and said
that he thought it was a good place

the others smiled and nodded

I drank a lot of coffee
studied maps
changed gear with my right hand
and
very nearly
killed a cyclist

I also felt something
stir

deep down inside me
something BIG
as big as a house
down there beneath my lungs

it could’ve been pride
it could’ve have been love
or
it could’ve have been something more abstract
like
gas

Whatever it was
it was living

alive
and as fat
as the green pines and snow