Sunday, February 19, 2012

Throwing Shit at the Moon


image borrowed from bing

Throwing Shit at the Moon

Where in hell are those
silver skate keys for the sidewalk rollers,
the pungent inner tubes for the
fleet of fat bike adolescent transporters,

the raw wind whipping in your hair
while vectoring personal muscle volition,
unfettered by tiger-striped helmets,

those public phones hanging next to
ice machines at 7-11, lonely phone
booths standing in parking lots, or
alongside hardware stores, their violated
phone books lying half naked, askew
from having their yellow pages torn out,
or those 50’s phone numbers that still
had the name of trees in them,

the nickel colas, the 19 cent burgers,
the crackle of dual glass pack mufflers,
poodle skirts and lacy petticoats,

real hard ice cream milkshakes, complete
with the tall stainless steel mixing cup,
still resplendent with luscious refill,

horse meat at the butcher’s, that sickly
sweet smell as it fried up in cast iron skillets;

yeah, Christ, I know dearest children,
just another sexagenarian howling at
technology like an old dog baying
at those sirens you cannot hear.


Glenn Buttkus

February 2012

Listed as #30 over on Magpie Tales 105

Would you like to hear the author read this poem to you?

13 comments:

robkistner said...

damn, don't I know Glenn, don't I know...

zongrik said...

the end really socks it to you, welllll the title does too, well, the whole thing does

meditation station

Brian Miller said...

ha...great piece man...love the title...and many of the things that were once common place now gone...i missed out on skate keys, i do know what they are though...maybe there is an app that will remind you...ha....

Mimi Foxmorton said...

Haha!

Don't know which I like better....the piece or the title!

(and I LOVE the title!)

ps. I had a skate key.

~Mimi
~Collage Pirate

Tess Kincaid said...

Love the notion of the phone books being violated...and I remember the 19 cent burgers too...now I'm really craving a real ice cream shake...vanilla...

Dion Schwulst said...

LOVE this!! Thanx for sharing!

Doug Palmer said...

You are writing some powerful stuff these days.

Trellissimo said...

Phone boxes bring out the nostalgia thing in Brits, too...

Ann Grenier said...

Love it, Glenn.

Unknown said...

I had a roller skate key and a diary key. I have ripped numbers out of phone booth directories and truly miss the shakes at the Woolworth's lunch counters. Thank you for sharing your shit, and my memories here, Glenn. Big smiles.

Helen said...

From this septuagenarian ... bring back the good old days! Great Magpie ... love the title - you rock!

Doctor FTSE said...

Wey Hey! That skate key takes me back a bit. Nice one, Glenn.

Wayne Pitchko said...

indeed we know.....thanks for sharing this