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lovepoem #7
hard to believe I could be
enamored of a porta
potty
but at the woodland wedding
the slim twin buildings
set
discreetly in a leafy glade
firm steps to the broad
platform
at the entrances
proved within to boast
gleaming stainless
steel
fixtures pull down shields
for the commode a neat
basin warm
water delicate
soaps hand towels a
scented candle burning
a
bouquet of spring blossoms
a wicker basket of possible
necessities
combs tissues tums
I hope they took a photo of
the lissome bride
emerging
from one door her elegant
groom from the other
© Jacqueline Jackson 2007
The loss of youth and innocence is one of the great
themes of literature. Here the California poet Kim Noriega looks deeply
into a photograph from 40 years ago.
Heaven, 1963
It’s my favorite photo—
captioned, “Daddy and His Sweetheart.”
It’s in black and white, it’s before Pabst Blue Ribbon, before his tongue became a knife that made my mother bleed, and before he blackened my eye the time he thought I meant to end my life.
He’s standing in our yard on Porter Road beneath the old chestnut tree. He’s wearing sunglasses, a light cotton shirt, and a dreamy expression.
He’s twenty-seven. I’m two. My hair, still baby curls, is being tossed by a gentle breeze. I’m fast asleep in his arms.
From Blue Arc West: An
Anthology of California Poets (Huntington
Beach, Calif., Tebot Bach, 2006). Copyright © 2006 by Kim Noriega.
Reprinted with permission of the author and Tebot Bach. American Life in
Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation
(www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of
English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Ted Kooser served as the U.S. Poet Laureate from
2004-2006. For more information, go to www.americanlifeinpoetry.org.
This article appears in Jul 19-25, 2007.
