oh relax

People love to express themselves by the clothes they wear, through the music they listen to, the art they create, the flowers they grow in their gardens...so many ways of self-expression - including the license plates on their vehicles. The surge in popularity is driven (see what I did there 😄) by a desire for individuality and this trend is evident while walking through the grocery store parking lot noticing the catchy phrases on the bumpers. This one hit home. Whenever my mom got worked up about whatever, my dad's response..."Relax, dear." And one time when Todd and I were having a "discussion," a little voice piped in and said, "Weewax, Mommy and Daddy!"

OH RELAX

stamped in metal, bolted to chrome,
a tiny manifesto riding home.

OH RELAX

it sighs at traffic’s daily theater,
at the honk-happy gladiator,
at the tailgater inching near
like urgency itself lives here.

maybe the driver wears it like a grin -
a laid-back soul in rumpled skin,
windows down, arm in breeze,
laughing at life’s small emergencies.

maybe it’s a joke on road rage heat,

a playful jab from the driver’s seat,

a bumper-level therapy session

for every impatient and rude expression.

perhaps it echoes some unseen thread -
a catchphrase once casually said,
an inside joke, a family tone,
a borrowed line now made their own.

OH RELAX

a bumper's message, brief and bright,
a dare to soften, just tonight.

and whether a whisper, joke, or shield,
it turns the highway to a field
where metal carries something kind:
a nudge to ease the racing mind.