Dave asked, Have you ever snorted coke through the exhaust manifold of a 1964 Barracuda? I don’t think so. You’d think I’d be able to remember such a time. That scene would brand a woman’s body and soul. Sear her lips and tongue. Make something new out of charred flesh and boiled blood and all that hot air sealing passageways as if a gopher’s burrow was gassed. Would I have grasped the tail pipe like a cheap cigar, fat, or would I close the garage door, stuff fine linens — my mother’s collection of tatted doilies — in the cracks of openings and pretend this trip was only a short one for the memory blanks? My scars don’t match the marks.
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Yesterday’s Read Write Poem prompt was a road trip. Last month I was asked a crazy question for 100% Honest Day. I’ve been thinking of Barracuda manifolds and tail pipes ever since. (Thanks, Dave.) So it seemed like a good time to get it out. Blow the gunk out of the pipes, so to speak.
(I wrote it with line breaks in my little NaPoWriMo notebook, but like it all run together. It’s a little trippier this way, I think.)
I didn’t intend the poem to be dark. Maybe I’ll try a comedy trip at some time. Maybe to the second part of the question, If not, why not?
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It’s hump day. Yeah NaPoWriMo!
Hope you all get money back from the IRS, that the money they do get to keep is well spent on important social services and the protection of the environment (I don’t mind paying taxes) and that your poetry is going well!
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Gack. Two errors/misses Dave found, plus two three more. At least you know it’s me writing and not a bot.
No related posts.
I like it in this form. That last line is really amazing. Sent me back to the start for a reread.
Ha! I forgot about that. Glad it prompted something so fun to read. Road triop indeed!
(Do you mean seer, or sear? Tail pip or tail pipe?)
Hey, James. Thanks.
Oy, Dave! Always a misspelling when I post something you read. You’re right on all counts.
Oh, and I’m very glad it was as fun to read as it was to write!
James, glad you liked the last line. I added it last minute and thought it made the work circle. Yay.
The irony is I had a typo in my own comment (road triop). How polite of you not to point that out.
Incidentally, I read all your posts.
I wasn’t in a snarky mood, Dave. :^} Plus triops are an old life-form. Who am I to criticize them? How nice of you to read here everyday. I’m not good at tracking stuff like that …
I didn’t say I read you here. I read Stoney Moss in Google Reader, like almost everything.
Oh. Of course. Reader is terrific. And with so many places to visit, mandatory. (Mandatory? Well, for a blog-addict, yes.)
Wow! This is an answer with laser accuracy. Yes, very trippy, dark, but gritty and honest. We all have those moments, but you make it sound so natural, the overflowing of thoughts. Great!
(o)