Vehicle Fire

“the modern American family”

They were making love

in the backseat of the van

as her parents sat like statues

in the front

her father  

looked in the rearview mirror

her mother flipped down

the passenger side mirror

powdered her nose

and reapplied her lipstick 

the sighs her daughter made

were misunderstood

but by then

the vehicle was engulfed in flames