BY MADDIE EVANS*
WEIGHT OF OUR WHEELS
Amid the humid blur of fleeting days
And the renaissance of fluorescent blooms among naked limbs
My solace is found within the ever familiar symphony
Of rubber wheels strumming the chords of black pavement
A sound I am not a stranger to
And a performance that I applaud for
As my families car journeys past green and yellow road signs
The silent friends that fade with each annual solstice
Bathed with the blessing of the return of
Warm white rays parting the well-worn clouds
That peaked through our car’s windows
To shine natures spotlight on the known
Yet always changing smiles of my family
In a frenzy of a warm familiar anticipation
Becoming acquainted with each aging tree
And the infinite yellow lines laid across the black pavement
As though it was our first time meeting all over again
And though the road and I have yet to exchange names
The sun stained pavement will forever recall the weight of our wheels gliding across its ancient body
Softly carrying the mass of laughter and excitement
Passed down from generation to generation
As the summer sky is born once more
The road is our companion
An ever-lasting reel of memories spread beneath our wheels
*We are so excited to have rising high-school senior Maddie Evans as our Summer Intern.
Madelin Parsley grew up in the panhandle of Nebraska. She holds an M.F.A. in fiction from Vanderbilt University, and her short stories have appeared in Ploughshares and Narrative Magazine. She’s currently working on a novel about five siblings, two small towns, and a family dynamic that is shaped and reshaped
Instructor Michael Belanger is an author and high school history teacher. His debut novel, The History of Jane Doe, was a finalist for the Connecticut Book Award and received a Kirkus starred review. More recently, his writing has appeared in Flash Fiction Magazine, Pigeon Review, Bright Flash Literary Review, and the 2025 Connecticut Literary Anthology.
