Blue flame?
stained like the Aegean Sea in sunlight
colour of my high school boyfriend’s ‘69 Chevy 2
a rust heap jangling to Saskatoon
joyriding in his Grandma’s car
Blue chunk of glass?
we’ve been to the Dog ‘N Suds
blueberry milkshake
suck down half
fling the rest out the window
Cartwheeling closer
Blue kite?
wind slams against the car
One revolution round the park
jouncing into a farmer’s field
tall smeared paper container
blue milkshake
splashing its voiceless protest
down the length of the back car door.
Today, sailing out of my trashy past
Wonder Wafers, World’s Most Perfect—
It affixes to a light post
Flutters onto a park bench
—Air Freshener Clean Car…
1975
our guilty hands sent milkshake containers
into summer’s slide
dumped ashtrays in parking lots
an empty box of Kotex pell-melling down the school yard hill
we were seventeen—
This rectangled message sailing, litter-blue
Shouting cleanliness
Launches itself into August’s draught
A splash of blue riding wind and light
Air Fresh—
a bit of flashy trash
out for a joy ride.
♦
Rosemary Nixon is a fiction writer and free-lance editor. Her first collection, Mostly Country, (a Nunatak Fiction imprint, NeWest Press), was shortlisted for the Howard O’Hagan Award. Her second collection, The Cock’s Egg (NeWest Press) won the Howard O’Hagan. Her novel, Kalila (Goose Lane) was longlisted for the ReLit and shortlisted for the George Bugnet Award. Her most recent, Are You Ready To Be Lucky? (Freehand Books, 2013) was nominated for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. Rosemary lives in Calgary.
She can be found at www.rosemarynixon.com
♦♦♦
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