Doubt

My father used to point down that long stretch of Kansas road
tell me the state was so flat and the road was so straight
you could point a laser down the middle from where we stood
and it would stay right on the dotted lane divider all the way to Nebraska.

Years later, I realized he must have been wrong about that
when my boyfriend fell asleep at the wheel driving back from Topeka
had the wheel locked straight and tight while he napped
cruise control holding the car at a steady fifty mph.