In response to Fred of Floyd's invitation to write a "Where I'm From" poem:
I am from:
Cool dust under Gramma's orange trees, heat around them, "Spider House" garden shed and whirly lawn sprinkler, drool on my bedspread, Bobbsey Twins, Little Women, Gone With the Wind open under my sleeping hand.
Prickly grey Packard upholstery. Gramma's white '57 Ford.
Dodo's treadle sewing machine, sugar cookies, long pink corset strings, As the World Turns.
Dad's tobacco-leather-smelling top drawer, gold-ruby pinky ring, clank of silver Zippo. Swat of hard hand. Dark scowl.
Mom's sewing machine, humming, her mouth full of pins: "Stand still!" Oops--fainted.
Sidewinders curling hieroglyphs across desert floor, scorpions in carport,
flipflops, halter tops, bobby pins, pedalpushers, swimming pools, Sea 'N' Ski, waterslides, trampolines,
Father Knows Best, Leave It to Beaver, Mickey Mouse Club, Clark Gable in a grocery store.
Piney summer mountain streams, smoking barbecues, rain hammering trailer roof.
Grubby hands stained by walnut husks, aroma of eucalyptus leaves/acorns crunching underfoot on chilly, fogshrouded mornings, San Francisco in the mist.
"Surfing" on air mattresses, waves pounding rocks, Si's nightly trombone wail.
A tidal wave that never came--but we evacuated!. Fires at the ranch: "Get the horses out!" Earthquakes: goldfish sloshing in their bowls; Mom hysterical. Floods: palm trees sailing by; Gramma in waders, shoveling. Sandstorms: a new windshield every year.
"It's California, after all!"
Nice! Very sensory-rich, a story within a poem, micro and macro details. Hold on to this one!
Posted by: fredf | November 12, 2003 at 03:22 AM
Good picture. I get a real California girl feeling.
Posted by: trish | November 12, 2003 at 07:38 AM
Wow. This is incredible. I especially like the prickly grey Packard upholstery.
Posted by: Pica | November 14, 2003 at 05:51 AM
The treadle sewing machine.
I have the base of one in my kitchen. Under a slab of marble.
Wonderful associations.
Posted by: Da Goddess | December 04, 2003 at 01:18 AM
"Sidewinders curling hieroglyphs across desert floor, scorpions in carport, flipflops, halter tops"
I lived in Alamogordo, New Mexico as a teenager, and this one really brought back some crisp memories. Somewhere, buried in the sands of what is a distant memory, I can still see the sidewinder hieroglphys. I can remember the insanity of tip-toeing through the carport in the hazy hot afternoons, dodging the upraised tails of the scorpions as they scurried beneath our feet. You captured it perfectly. Great writing ...
... not sure if I'm jealous, or if I just bow down to you in admiration. Maybe a little of both?
Posted by: ntexas99 | December 10, 2003 at 06:44 PM