Paperboy

during these few short months,
i have done things i never even thought of,
or could even see myself doing

for example, one weekend,
back home from college, i had learned that
my parents took a local newspaper
delivery job

the job consists of:
picking up the papers
organizing the things for the most efficient route
and driving around very late at night when no one else is awake to deliver them
we fill those newspaper racks that i didn't even know still existed
other than that, we rarely have to get out of the car
it's kinda neat

i'm a paper boy

one night, my dad and i took the papers out a 4 in the morning
after just staying awake and watching television in the living room
and we haven't been on terms for about the last year of my life
not talking very much, just being quiet, alone,
and listening to country music on the radio,
we drove through my childhood town
where i grew up and where he hates
where we both hate
where we're both
just tired

it was like it was abandoned.
we only saw three cars the whole trip
in a town that has a bit of a traffic problem

it felt like everyone was dead

it felt like everyone had vanished
or had run away from some cataclysmic event
but forgot to tell us

and time felt so slow

then, he complimented my driving

then, i just wished i could've
told him that i love him
what's wrong
with me?