springfield 66 poem #1
busy time this fri eve in springfield
route 66 gala already begun hard to get
to the old pharmacy to see tom handy’s
photos of palms and their latticed shadows
jim hawker’s unforgettable bored child
embracing a curb it was like those mazes
in a kid’s puzzle book you start out
reach a dead end retrace erase detour till
with luck you find your destination it was
harder still to return a library book to 7th street
I nearly drove over the grass through the multicolored
fountains but managed to park nearby
walked along a pavement where a row of
gleaming ’66 autos sat in neat fashion
against the sidewalk their mouths wide open gaping
maws waiting for a tongue depressor big as a tabletop
to make them gargle “ah” even in the street’s dimness
you could see all the way to their tonsils well even beyond
no guards a remarkable sight worth the inconvenience
©2014 Jacqueline Jackson
This article appears in Oct 2-8, 2014.
