LatinosUSA

The Guy in the Clutch Tshirt
for Jason Ryberg

Somewhere between spicy IPA 
& some flavorless Schlitz
a car is born idling both feet 
ready to burn rubber — both pedals
options on the constant road

& the voice is a burnout 
popped out of granny gear 
all the way to red line 
back to idle of repose

Can we start already? 
or is this just where 
it gets interesting 
life by the metaphor 
Racing stop to stop 
the illusion of automatic 
when it's all goddamn work

only the transmission
does it for you
in the barrel chest
of a mean street machine 
running like a mouth 
full of poem & spite

Racing & winning so far 
ahead sometimes it feels 
like living in last place

Osage Arts Community
2 Oct 2022

Copyright © 2025 Tony Brewer

This poem is from Tony’s book Good Job, Lightning.

Paperback

Author Biography

Tony Brewer is a poet and audio artist from Bloomington, Indiana, where he is executive director of the Spoken Word Stage at the 4th Street Art Festival. He has published 13 books and chapbooks, most recently Good Job, Lightning (Stubborn Mule Press) and Water Witch (Pure Sleeze Press). Tony was named Indiana’s 2024 Literary Champion by the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Awards. More at linktr.ee/TonyBrewer.