in memory of swimming in Fort Lauderdale at night

Robert Lowell
(died thirty years ago today)

“I am not feeding you,” she said

(and meant it)

so begins

the thai tofu toothpick tango.

the car, the talk, the question:

do you want

an eighties flick,
with cusackian overtones?
and we can talk
in the parking lot,
in front of the record store,
with the sun burnt,
sienna
and sinking in the sky.

or

a late nineties indie,
with kerouacian undertones?
and we can ramble as we walk,
and amble as we talk.
long tracking shots as we trek
from the record store
to the book store
to the twilight shore.
changing store fronts
marking the shift in mood,
(dissolve to)
swimming in the ocean at night,
our push to keep apart,
the undertow
pulling us back together.

excerpt and illustration from:
For An American Girl With a Czech Surname
1st edition chapbook, limited to 50 copies
(suggested) contribution $5.00
email: circlesallthewaydown@gmail.com