Gravidas Earth
GRAVIDAS EARTH
the turntable in a whorl, my thumbprint
distinct on 45’s and 78’s and the cover
near the door, spewed upon - i forgive
you my roommate-sister, it’s only cardboard.
afterall, how’d we know, the future would auction
our records, flatsie and dawn dolls, past 2000 —
we couldn’t even imagine. i’m way off track,
follow the grooves behind me, the moves
that define me, the hairstyle without mousse,
cut and blown as i run, always run for the bus.
i’m still running but I’m never late. out the door,
down a couple steps of baked cement — i
think there is a porch now — i could sled the snowy
drive, steep but the road’s at my feet so i walk
with a heavy plaid coat and snazzy boots to
the stop. one highschooler didn’t stay long —
he caught the bus to another place, no time to wave.
the road named after his kin. the bus arrives,
don’t miss it a bit — so loud with its popular crowd.
the school had a fountain, where we’d wash our hands
where the restrooms were still for boys and girls.
our physics teacher gave us speed, well the formula, as
we hoisted ourselves out the window with ticker tape —
did i say i, no - not i, I wasn’t brave enough, not
ready to die. but a boy whose daddy taught biology
drowned in the clouds of a lake. i mixed his tears
with my own. why cherry pick
the incidents of the oldest kid — she lurks in shadows
remembering the haunts of others. Lexie C gallops
with her friend the horse through the valley of our hearts.
she’s the queen that sat beside me in French class.
she deserted us after graduation, taking a one way road
to her heavenly destination.
she will always be young with Scarlet’s hair
and dark glasses, missing what the rest of us learned
in our education on this gravidas earth.
7/2/2019
*Scarlet refers to Scarlet O’Hara of Gone With the Wind fame
Copyright © Kim Rodrigues | Year Posted 2019
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