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Chrome Swaddled Cruiser 1975
Winter’s dander had been brushed by sprigs
of spring, then, there you were, all earthy
and carrying seeds. I scouted you from the cellar
window of our 2 flat in the slot of mama’s ladybug
curtains, riding a Schwinn up and down the street.
You wore tan cutoff cords, a white t-shirt
and Pumas. I made a highbrow note to toss
out my camp shorts. You fixed mud-wet eyes
on the brownstone every two seconds. Poor Mrs.
Dunlap’s gardenias got the rubber squeeze four times.
A wedged-between-the-spokes baseball
card chatted like a certain Christian.
You, Cyrano, with your tush three inches
above the red banana seat, mastered
the gauche of a 15 year old. Mama yelled
at me from the kitchen’s gurgle to go hang
the wash outside. I dabbed on a bead
of tangerine lip-gloss, bucketed the whites
and clothespins, accepted responsibility
without so much as a grimace.
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Jun/12/2009, 2:51 pm
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Re: Chrome Swaddled Cruiser 1975
hi Yoly,
Good to see you here. This strikes me as a coming of age poem. N seems to be looking back at her younger self with real affection...not cloying or sentimental...very funny in parts and deep without sounding heavy.
I like the opening lines very much, especially:
"...and there you were, all earth
and carrying seeds. I scouted you from the celler."
I found this hilarious:
"...I dabbed on a bead
of tangerine lip gloss..."
followed by the last lines, which really left me thinking/wondering:
"bucketed the whites/and clothespins, accepted responsibility/without so much as a grimace."
I didn't understand the baseball card that "chatted like a certain Christian." Is that something I'd get if I'd gone to Sunday school?
This poem was a pleasure, Yoly. Hope to see more of you around these parts.
Chris
Last edited by ChrisD1, Jun/13/2009, 8:35 am
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Jun/13/2009, 8:26 am
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Re: Chrome Swaddled Cruiser 1975
Good to see your post, Yolyfriend. Does this mean you were able to solve the access problem?
I've commented on the poem elsewhere. But I can tell you it sits as nicely on the brain as it did the first time I read it.
You know? I remember the playing cards in the spokes gambit for bringing attention to myself. I got this vague recollection that we used clothes pins to attach card to spoke. I am pretty sure we did.
As I think I said before what particularly strikes me about the poem is how the young girl is already looking into her maturity, what with the way she accepts responsibility. Good stuff.
Tere
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Jun/13/2009, 8:40 pm
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Re: Chrome Swaddled Cruiser 1975
Hi Chris-
Thank you for your kind response to this poem.
I cannot access this site from my home.
I've yet to figure out why.
Anywho, it is the reason for my delay in responding. (At work now)
I appreciate your reading.
"I didn't understand the baseball card that "chatted like a certain Christian."
Is that something I'd get if I'd gone to Sunday school?"
Christian was Cyrano's stand-in.
The baseball card was this boy's stand-in.
He used the card, stuck between the spokes, to speak for him.
Tere-
Good to be here. Thank you for extending an invitation. I like the site.
As I mentioned above, the problem is still
with my home pc. Can't get securities or something like it worked out.
Glad the poem sits nicely with your great brain.
Cheers,
Yoly
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Jun/17/2009, 12:24 pm
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