Rockabilly

Short skirts and tucked shirts 

Greased hair and hips that flare

That’s the rockabilly way

Polished cars and vintage bars

Cherry red lips and leather whips

That’s the rockabilly way 

Full throttle with teeth pressed 

Against a sparkling coke bottle 

That’s the rockabilly way 

Cigarettes tucked behind the ear 

Men slouched and cavalier 

That’s the rockabilly way

Peekaboo tattoos and high-heeled

Shoes, mink shawls hanging in halls 

That’s the rockabilly way

Neon lights and bloody brawl fights 

Checkered diners all things finer

That’s the rockabilly way 

Summer heat pounding on a blacktop

Speakers pulsing and shaking nonstop

That’s the rockabilly way 

Pin-up curls adorning fiery girls 

Painted nails and netted veils 

That’s the rockabilly way 

By Audra Burwell

Reviews

[Robert Haigh]

I was around then, but much too young to be part of the scene. The first generation of young people to forge their own identity and make their own music. Their parents saw it as rebellion, which in a way it was. But it was more than that - it was a coming of age statement, and things were changed forever! You capture the essence of those times beautifully in this poem!