My America (1992)

[68degrees]

A solitary sweating salesman’s car idles
at this Main Street’s lone stop sign.
He curses the fender corn* dusting
his ’87 robin blue egg Toyota Celica.

The fifty-one year old, softly graying
driver once married his teenage sweetheart,
begat three children, was divorced last April,
now taps his nicotine stained fingers
to Billy Joel’s “It’s Still Rock-n’-Roll to Me”
in a melodramatic kind of cadence,
whistles while watching a banker’s blond daughter
hip stroll in the shadow of the only grain elevator.

She smiles like a Cheshire cat, knows
she married her money from another town,
but doesn’t stop her from nodding
until the Celica passes her on the way out
to Highway 63 north to Excelsior.

(*a regional term for air born tasseling pollen)

[mnaz]

I see the driver pretty clearly here, and the town he's passing through, but I got a little lost with the banker's daughter and married money from another town.

"Fender corn" and "robin blue egg" ... yeh, love those..

[68degrees]

Mnaz,

Glad you could see him and some of the details. I agree I need to be clearer w/my intentions with her and what her purpose would be aside from the flirts. Thanks for the observation.

68degrees

[Doreen Peri]

In addition to writing poetry and plays, I suggest writing novels. You'd be very good at it!

[68degrees]

I do not have the patience to write a novel. I'll be the first to admit it. Maybe when I retire... I'm too much in love w/theater though. Will probably spend more of my free time there. Or here. Or on a golf course.

68degrees

[WIREMAN]

enjoyed this visual piece....immensely...

[saw]

speaks to me of leaving things behind....small-town-robin-egg-blues....

[68degrees]

Wireman/ Saw

thanks for the support. Appreciate it.

68degrees

[shadowplay]

I like this little vignette. Charming references.

I dated a Japanese dude named Tomohiko, he drove a 1980 Celica. He used to eat cheese balls with chopticks while drinking Sapporo beer. Adorable guy. Celicas always make me think of him.