In Ben’s inherited ‘93 Ford Explorer
with the maroon leather seats
and white exterior that made the SUV
a vehicular cousin of red velvet cake,

the four of us cruised through Somerset
subdivisions boasting million-dollar houses,
rolled into Eagle’s Nest and Wood’s
Edge bumping LMFAO, rapped along
to “Yes” and gossiped about
bankrupt families who lived there.

We rising seniors spent our summer
goofing off in a slow-moving
small town, turned transportation
into double dates, searched
for side roads and backroads
to make the trip ten minutes longer.