The Ditch Witch Blues
|
after helping John again
with some impossible task in her estimation this time trying to load a 600 pound piece of equipment a ditch witch it's big wheels spinning in the mud onto a trailer covered with snow that fell overnight, predicted that the ditch witch slid off of the first time nearly smashing into John she's thinking a modest apartment with an alley view in a liberal, progressive community, cultural venues by the boatload, surrounded by people who have been in therapy no concern about running out of water neighbors shooting at the devil rabid republicans fulminating fundamentalists is beginning to look appealing her country gal era may be over Chorus oh, she's singing the ditch witch blues yes, she's crying the ditch witch blues time might be right to hit the road tonight because she's singing the ditch witch blues but the silence is nice mountain views spectacular you can see the stars John has plenty of space for his treasures but the roads are abominable the dust never ends and there's the water problem Chorus oh, she's singing the ditch witch blues yes, she's crying the ditch witch blues time might be right to hit the road tonight because she's singing the ditch witch blues |
Little Sparrows I love dem little sparrows
They talk is very sweet They greet me in the morning And tweet and tweet and tweet They are so very happy We should be more like them And jump and dance and greet the day With songs of endless Joy! Next TimeNext life time I’m going to be a truck driver Long distance with a sleep compartment in the back I’ll drive from Alaska to Argentina The roads might be better or they might not be there at all After that I’ll be a world famous theoretical physicist brilliant, a genius, published I’ll figure out what it’s all about through incredibly complicated math I’ll talk in formulas After that I’ll be a world famous rock and roll star or maybe a jazz bass player or maybe Janis Joplin or was that my previous lifetime? |
Old Friend
We talk on the couch
after she arrives catching up. On our way to Nash D'Amico's we talk all the while. Through pasta and salad we never stop. On to the Bolivar ferry to sight dolphins. The wind blows. Seagulls fly overhead. The Gulf waves gray green. We take in impressions and talk. Back in the Mercedes with the old classy smell we talk on without stopping. Over tea on the couch we continue till shadows grow long then say our goodbyes hug reunited at last. |
New Cut GrassLazy July evenings stretch forever.
Dad cuts grass and catches it in an old canvass hopper, the dog barking at the wheels of the lawn mower. Tops of clover and chopped dandelion make grass salad. I run across the cool grass in my bare feet, honey bees gone home for the day. Lightening bugs wink off and on. I bring my hand up under one and watch it wink atop my finger then put it in a baby food jar with holes punched in the top to keep it for a while. The fragrance of the orange blossom bush by the kitchen window sweetens the dense, humid air. Dust from the alley blows by from a passing car. In the park kids yell and peddle bikes around the wooden floor of the band pavilion where I walk in a circle in my home made hoop skirt, passing the baton until is stops at me and I win the coconut cake. I fall asleep atop the covers, ventilator in the window. The band plays its last Sousa march and distant rumble of thunder hugs the spider web of my dreams. |
First Big Teenage Love
Remember we used to dance crazy,
drink beer at fraternity parties,
neck in the student lounge behind closed doors?
We met in the dining hall as cafeteria workers
In white uniforms and unbecoming hairnets
Your goofy faces somehow attractive to me.
We partied our way through my sophomore year
My grades suffered but gee it was fun.
We met in the next lifetime by accident
In a gas station
When I was Miss Corporate America
After you had divorced the sweetheart you left me for.
But the second time I sent you
The Dear John Letter.
drink beer at fraternity parties,
neck in the student lounge behind closed doors?
We met in the dining hall as cafeteria workers
In white uniforms and unbecoming hairnets
Your goofy faces somehow attractive to me.
We partied our way through my sophomore year
My grades suffered but gee it was fun.
We met in the next lifetime by accident
In a gas station
When I was Miss Corporate America
After you had divorced the sweetheart you left me for.
But the second time I sent you
The Dear John Letter.
Howard's Scented Gum
We wear penny loafers,
no socks, and Villagers skirts,
pull cigarettes from
the underwear drawer and roar out to
The White Oaks Dance Hall in
Geraldine's father's 1958 rose and
cream Pontiac station wagon.
We smoke, front windows rolled down
in the dead of winter.
The smell of stale cigarette smoke,
musty rest rooms
greets us at the entrance.
The fee is fifty cents and a hand stamp.
We puff cigarettes non-stop. After all,
that's one of the reasons we go to the dance,
so we can be smokestacks.
Dancing and smoking to the
Detroit sound of The Magnificent Men,
Smoking and dancing.
My dad picks us up
when we can't get Geraldine's father's car.
He says, your clothes smell terrible.
I say, a lot of kids smoke, it's awful
And chomp away on a wad of Howard's Scented Gum.
no socks, and Villagers skirts,
pull cigarettes from
the underwear drawer and roar out to
The White Oaks Dance Hall in
Geraldine's father's 1958 rose and
cream Pontiac station wagon.
We smoke, front windows rolled down
in the dead of winter.
The smell of stale cigarette smoke,
musty rest rooms
greets us at the entrance.
The fee is fifty cents and a hand stamp.
We puff cigarettes non-stop. After all,
that's one of the reasons we go to the dance,
so we can be smokestacks.
Dancing and smoking to the
Detroit sound of The Magnificent Men,
Smoking and dancing.
My dad picks us up
when we can't get Geraldine's father's car.
He says, your clothes smell terrible.
I say, a lot of kids smoke, it's awful
And chomp away on a wad of Howard's Scented Gum.
@ 2018 Marjorie Thelen. All Rights Reserved
