I once held a Governor safe to the road,
amidst rain sheets so thick
they should have washed away the world
beneath me.
Just so you know.
I wasn't always this lame and lonely
lawn ornament, this sullen
fairy-tale photo-op.
I used to hold the lives of travelers,
carefully, between the scarce spaces in my tread.
If it weren't for me, they may have never made it
to the platonic play-dates they were late for.
They may have never found little Skippy,
who finally found that flaw in the fence.
Even after I grew old
and went bald, after I was told
I was no longer capable, physically,
I kept the most beautiful girls in the world
company, on the most beautiful days, and
I'll never forget that.
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The Editor-in-Chief for Touchstone 2011 is Lindsey Givens. She is a second year master's student in children's literature and she received her bachelor's in creative writing from the University of Arkansas in 2009.