Friday, February 5, 2016

Utopian Turtletop

She rocks the hat
     she could have grabbed
     off Marianne Moore,
     flustering West Portal Peet’s
     one eye blind behind
     the bent tin dimestore brooch
     that secures her pinned-up brim.

A silverish pendant evokes
     the golden age of art nouveau.
     Neo-bohemian,
     it bangs against her chest,
     a fluted weight
     suspended by the sort of cord
     save-the-Tibetans pray by.

She leans on an acrylic cane
     wrapped in bows of duct tape
     and artful lace mylar,
     twisted round a draping
     chain of six-pack collars.
     She unsnaps the rubber band
     that binds a cough drop tin,

once painted yellow. Nickels,
     dimes, a quarter here and there,
     she pinches out a stack
     of coins along the counter,
     payment for her non-fat
     double shot, no-foam.

No comments:

Post a Comment