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A Small Town
Contributed by
bj111
on
Friday, 2nd July 2004 @ 06:44:04 PM in AEST
Topic:
DarkPoetry
|
a small town
on a sideroad
a mile from the tracks
two storey assortments
a hamburger joint
its screen door
fronting on a broken sidewalk
hot
barefoot-hurtin hot
smell of cooking grease
desultory looks
of a waitress
who would rather work
at the other restaurant
just outside of town
the small one
air conditioned
with better tips
but this town
is here and now
a mistake
reaching for a future
and a reason for being
the site remembered only
for some grisly rural crime
by the town s deputy mayor
who was so good with children
lived with his mother
dear mrs what s her name
who had buried three husbands
and two sets of dentures
before passing on
leaving her over weight son
the house they d lived in
all their lives
filled with memory ghosts
that stalked
the upstairs hall
sometimes even seen
on hot sweaty summer nights
when the air lay
thick as syrup
and unbreathable
police said it was a shame
there were six bodies
in the crawlspace
they couldn t name
teenagers
boys the deputy mayor had killed
over the six years
since his mother had died
the town talks still
the house lies unsold
no one will buy
city folk only pass
without stopping
it lies empty
behind the variety store
its magazine stand
crowded with pornography
half hidden by panelling
folk there remember
the deputy mayor
he had dressed as a clown
during centennial celebrations
at the community centre
doing balloon tricks
for the farmer s kids
orange hair
extended feet
makeup
red nose
now
they share morbid speculations
about their children
what could have happened
how old mrs what s her name
was so disliked
repeating that
as if repetition made it true
how she seemed a little queer
her son so done by
to have survived three fathers
before he was sixteen
he never spoke at the trial
in town
stood in the dock
he did
distant
opaque
still as a headstone
ankles and wrists bound
by small chains
they say he never spoke
ever
even to his attorney
never
to anyone
but what words i wondered
passed beneath his balding head
when he heard
the crown convict him
or when the papers said
he was fond of women s shoes
and pantyhose
and later wrote
he had strangled himself
with his own underwear
one august night
in solitary
kids tease now
challenge each other
to stand nearer the house
on sweaty summer nights
when crickets choir
up to the porch
over the crawlspace
to the door
inside even
some say there is a funny smell still
that screams are heard
during summer storms
and dull shapes
pace the lightless upstairs hall
disturbing dust
and small rodents
when you pass by us
think on this history
of good folk
hard working men and women
their children
with too much time
by the steps
of the old post office
when summer nights simmer
smelling faintly sweet
Copyright ©
bj111
... [
2004-07-02 18:44:04]
(Date/Time posted on
site)
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Re: A Small Town
(User Rating: 1 )
by KiLin on
Friday, 6th August 2004 @ 03:23:13 PM AEST
(User
Info | Send
a Message)
|
| That was cool. That sounds like a small town the hollywood could have a ball with. Fun read! |
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