She pulled into the parking lot,
hoping to find a space,
another day, another week,
in this life, this crazy place.

There was one labeled
Frustration,
and one that said
For the Mad,
one said,
Park Here, If You Can’t Let Go
and one marked just
For the Sad.

She drove in slow motion
as she passed each of those by,
not wanting to choose a single one,
as tears came to her eyes.

She realized she’d been sitting
in one of them almost every day,
just pulling in and parking,
and trying to go about her days.

It was then she glanced ahead and thought
she saw some empty spaces,
she dried her tears, as others turned in,
getting out with smiling faces.

The signs there read things like
Happy
and another said
This One Sets You Free,
the next one read
Park Here If You Want to Let Go,
and beside it,
If You Want Joy, Choose Me.

The girl realized then she’d been parking
in the wrong space every day,
if she’d just looked up and kept going,
she’d have realized there was another way.

********************

Today,

It might be worth taking another spin around the lot,

not settling for the first one we see, but waiting for just the right spot.  

One that is worth laying claim to.

@traceykingrice2023