Calluses on a Soul

she shuffled out of the supermarket
half of her hair in curlers; the other half
taking what looked like a pretty desperate shot
at marketing itself to a creature less repugnant
or more stable than the humanoid junk drawer
that was now making her way through automatic doors
into a concrete summer rain.

even to the timid strangers,
who were sitting in their cars
waiting for loved ones, or a reprieve
from the ninety-pound humidity
that was still being pelted with piss
from guardian angels that had grown weary
of following people around this re-purposed tropic,
it was becoming increasingly obvious
that she had made this journey at least once before--
and that she would likely make it many times again.

it wasn't the pocketful of lottery tickets
that slowed her walk to the heap of scrap metal
that, for the purposes of this story,
shall henceforth be referred to as her "car."
it was neither the high heel on her left foot,
nor the less-high-heel on her right.

the more skilled voyeurs among the afternoon crowd
noted the tiniest hint of what may have been relief
in the only miserable imitation of a strut
that her destroyed,
perhaps once-seductive frame would allow.
it lasted precisely until her gray-green car door
gave way to a fifteenth tug,
and loosed the wails of three infant banshees
who had been trapped there in blissful moments
that must have seemed like part of a distant past.

even through the torrents of liquid and regret
that were streaking her windows and the air about her,
you could taste the blank stare that each child received in turn;
you could hear her words get trampled under breath,
and you could feel her turn those sunken eyes slowly away,
having lost the strength to rectify a hallucination
of three ashtrays filled with yesterday's dreams.

with the deepest breath her necrotic lungs could manage,
she pulled a cigarette from her shirt pocket,
lit it with shaky fingers,
and moved to turn over the ignition

(though it would take eight more tries
before the damn thing was gonna work.)

Reviews

[NoneOfYourBusiness akaK..]

you take a scene~and actually not just look at the dichotomy of human existence but peel it back in intrcate and absolutely captivating ways that just pin the reader's mind to the happenstance unfolding~
your description of a perhaps once sultry seductress now weighed down by plump little cherubs taking all her attention from herself with their needs is sheer cinematic/poetic genius~ you engage completely~ and the movie continues on in the imagination of your audience after the last line~

detailed and just flawless reality mixed with lyrical surreality on the underbelly side~bravo!

[Robin]

a keen eye , observant and poetic - excellent storytelling