Vacation

by Scott Jann

Eleven people in a pair of cars,
in which they put themselves,
big red suitcases of clothes,
several coolers of food and pop
Driving down long roads,
stopping at anything that isn't a field or forest.
Little children running around,
screaming, playing,
having fun.
Parents trying to stop them.
Riding in the car,
all packed tightly,
they get restless and squirm about.
Stop at a hotel.
they get out of the small car,
and go into a small room.
They sleep for a while,
then eat ,
then drive about again.
Eventually,
hundreds of miles away,
they get to the exact destination,
a small lake with a little shallow stream leaving it.
All that way,
to find a specific spot:
the beginning of the Mississippi River.