stickers & statements

today i skipped three right turns to get to my house,
turns that would get me there easier, quicker & just made sense.
but i kept on moving, looking straight ahead
i kept on moving so i could keep on reading...

...reading the bumper of an old chevy truck.

filled with stickers and statements
that made me smile and made me think,
and told the story of someone or an evolution of someones.
maybe it's the original owner or the 4 or 8 since?
which or how many i'll never know.

some stickers had been there for years
as faint as the old truck's dull blue, chipped and faded paint.
some layered on top of others
peeled away and weathered.
like the pale green sticker heralding "carter/mondale 1976"

but a few stood out
colorful and bright
as if they were added just last week.
my favorites proclaiming:
"i'm not in heat, get off my tail."
and
"don't believe everything you think"

i read through two missed turns
and thought through the third.
thought of the gentleman driving and just who he was
i wanted to blow my horn and grab his attention,
"pull over & let's have coffee mr. bumper-sticker-lovin'-chevy-drivin-stranger!!"

i feel like i know you from the bumper of your truck,
i feel like i want to know you more because of the bumper of your truck.
i live for a story and everybody has one.
but this was a story that i already felt a part of.

what an honest depiction of someone's life!

what they love, what they think
how it's evolved, how they've grown.
what mattered at the time
probably different from what matters today.

forget a resume or an overflowing portfolio
facts and references, blah blah blah.
that's not really you...
the you that matters most.
your character and your voice.

what if our lives were on display
on the bumper of an old chevy truck?

i think we'd all love a little differently
and be a bit more tolerant.
because the statements and stickers
speak for themselves.
they don't hide behind facades,
or have to smile through the pain.

and best of all...
we'd make each other think
and make each other smile.

what would your life say,
if it was on display
on the back of an old chevy truck?