The Jersey Shore
We arrive in our gasping, grunting white Ford Fairlaine
The crying gulls begin as if on cue
like Hendrix, the noise challenges and displaces the air around us
Mom doesn’t want to stay in the rental
because of the stuffed birds on the wall
I don’t want to stay because of the moldy rug
a creeping green that threatens to enlist me in its decay
opening zippers unleash brave bathing suits
and muu-muus, screaming like banshees
a sticky pitcher of Choo-choo Cherry squats inscrutably
on the counter
the sky has been brooding for hours
finally a summer storm chases children into closets
people party upstairs
Dad pounds on the ceiling with a broom
boom! boom!! boom!!!
louder and louder
Bob Dylan sings It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
music pipes into my ears all night
furious music that pounds dents into my smooth exterior
indignant music that shoves aside frayed opinions
scowling music that kicks out a new beat
and acid washes flyblown limbs
Lori Romero is the winner of the 2008 Spire Spring Poetry Chapbook Contest. Her first chapbook, Wall to Wall, was published by Finishing Line Press. Her short story, Strange Saints, was a semifinalist in the Sherwood Anderson Fiction Award and her short screenplay won the Manhattan Short Film Festival’s Screenplay Competition. Her poetry and fiction have been published in more than eighty journals and anthologies. She was recently nominated for a second Pushcart Prize.
Thank you, Suellen! So glad you enjoyed it! Lori
wonderful poem! Liked your alliteration and imaginative images: “pitcher of Choo-choo cherry squats inscrutably”!