Her Ghetto Brick Shoes~

Her name was Ruby

but they all called her LittleRedHoodie

cuz she loved the color red

on her lips

pouting

on her hips

shouting

she flipped out of Donna Karan tailored suits

into blood corduroys

and man beaters

shouting

strutting

slamming her ghetto brick shoes into the glove compartment

of the ElDorado

 

Momma was somewhere in the Caribbean

knocking back martinis

all glossy in coconut tanning lotion

her married man nearby

cheatin'

weepin’ at momma's really blue eyes

and perfect cheekbones

while LittleRedHoodie fiddled with the radio knob

somewhere inside a tunnel that would take her out of Manhattan

tapping her high top sneakers with the black laces

her red hood pulled low

over her eyes

screaming chemical warfare

with the Dead Kennedys

 

The woman in the driver's seat

put up with it all with grace

and patience

though LittleRed really tried to push her

over that edge

where adults

either screamed themselves into apoplexy

or gave you a solid punch in the face

or the gut

and sent you to your room

or kicked you out

 

Not this woman with the chestnut pony tail

and gold eyes

who was being paid pretty damn well

to put up with LittleRed

for two weeks

while momma turned the color of caramel

somewhere in the world

with a man

that didn't really belong to her

 

Driving

miles and miles

hours and hours

out of city hums

and mad hustling feet pounding pavement

into towns

through valleys

and up mountains;

"So where we goin' babysitter?" LitteRed sneered

her magenta mouth

under a blue

blue skye

and slipped a Newport from her cloak

and flipped her bic

making fire

making madness

making hollow circles of smoke

 

The woman with the heart face only smiled

and said

"Where pigs are pigs and goats are goats And the farm is a sanctuary."

and LittleRed frowned

and puffed her cigarette

and pounded her feet against the glove compartment

to the beat of Black flag

damaged

 "What the hell is a farm sanctuary.  Gad damn, lady.  Didn't momma tell you I was one of them freaky  vegetarians?"

LittleRed fumed until her green eyes turned yellow

and her red

red hair was like a fire

as she shook her head

something fierce

but the woman smiled

and said

"Yes, she did."

                       ~*~

Her ghetto brick shoes got muddy

her ghetto brick ways got sunny

over the span of a dozen days;

she slopped the pigs

she chased the goats

and bottle fed the baby lambs

she played wheel barrow with Hop the rabbit

who was more like a human

and had a sucky attitude

just like her

she related

 

Her Ghetto Brick shoes got left

by her unassuming cot

with the rough blanket

her red hair decorated with straw

her scent of Chanel

replaced by smells of hay and animal musk

LittleRed hopped a fence and ran with a pair of wild mustangs

through the forest until her feet were raw

and bloody

and her lungs were on fire

and her soul was kind of clean

all of a sudden

 

                                     ~*~

Outside a big brownstone

in the East Village

a girl with red hair

sat in an ElDorado

with a woman

who was maybe actually a goddess

while her momma

with caramel skin

and yellow hair

ambled lazily down steps

"Look at you, all disheveled, and what on god's green earth is THAT smell?"

her momma wrinkled her perfect nose

and Ruby grinned

and hopped out of the car

and said

"That is the smell of a vegan."

and laughed

and bounded into the brownstone on bare feet

all scratched

scabby elbows pumping

wild hair dancing

 

The woman in the ElDorado

looked at the pair of muddy

torn

ghetto brick shoes

on the floor

of the passenger seat;

she smiled

and drove back to the rupa lokas

on a cloud

drawn by the Four Noble Truths

 

 

 

copyright:2010vssmd/pa.inc

All Rights RESERVED

 

 

 

 

 

excerpt from. . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[Barb]

This is just amazing!!!
I can feel the magic that is woven thru each word, of a story that is written from your soul. It flows to a place in my heart, from a girl, to woman, back to the girl in us all...a different time, a different place, but the strength that is found in each of us, came from a moment, a time, even that one special person that helped us find our way..and you can show that amazing feeling in words, your story, my story, all of our stories you seem to weave seemlessly all into one!

[Brad]

now see, i was hoping for a cat fight!

knowing you only enhances the flavor of each of your po's

[Larry Dyson]

one of your many solutions to "Abuse" that I share with you! So much to read and so little time..shesh...

[Crowley]

You should get money just for pulling out Dead Kennedy's and Black Flag like that. This was a wonderful trip and a truth beyond all truths. Nothing like a little dose of reality to combat another dose of reality. Wonderful story, wonderful outcome. this one made me smile.

[.]

"LittleRedHoodie fiddled with the radio knob
somewhere inside a tunnel that would take her out of Manhattan
tapping her high top sneakers with the black laces
her red hood pulled low
over her eyes
screaming chemical warfare
with the Dead Kennedys"

Slam-Slam-GhettoRedHoodie-Slam..."her eyes screaming chemical warfare
with the Dead Kennedys"---gotta love this--sweet!!!
(I can hear the rhythm 'Red' inside my head)...

Awesome Poetess!!!

J:)

[My Fair Lady]

I could relate to this story/poem on several levels. Being a troubled youth, and trying to turn it into good by being a youth mentor, i found myself in several places here.

"LittleRed hopped a fence and ran with a pair of wild mustangs
through the forest until her feet were raw
and bloody
and her lungs were on fire
and her soul was kind of clean
all of a sudden"
I will never forget that time in my life, and the soul saving grace of the woman who listened to me. Thank you for this.

[Geralyn Miller]

Admirable, liked the story. While long, it flows well and very quickly. Your poem was good enogh to read several times.

[TAO]

on a cloud
drawn by the Four Noble Truths

That's the hardest line I've ever heard... It inspires me to want to drive to become a martial great again...though...laziness owns us for the moment. I got this... This was a good lesson, I'd say, and tells me perhaps we'd be better off on the farm...

[Nancy S.]

I love this one... Reminds me, gotta check the calendar again =D~

[G. Marie"floating on an..]

wow i love this. it read as a mini story. some really profound meanings to this poem Wow I really love how you write with a mix of current and past entwined to still give an ageless meaning and life to this poem or prose is it? love this I want my young daughter (21) TO read some of your poems I think she could relate to these even better than me. (of course I'm pretty hip having raised 3 teenagers in the hip hop era lol) I know most of the rappers songs and pop stars lol

[Michael X]

wow,you put pen to paper, like pedal to the metal, and a rockin, smooth, classy beat to boot, the ironside detail and persuasive narrative is no less flying off the page, you have a really great, unique way with wording, I love how you take a theme and bring it life, but the flow is golden, this poem reminds me of a new

beginning, a way of being abe to create one own path with sheer determination, and knowing only the cream rises to the crop per say,
the way the scene played out with each song playing on the radio is symbolic to the meaning, a real rendering en voque, magnificently
done selene, i'm a fan of your brilliant, unique style.