THE GIRL IN THE WHITE MERCEDES
THE GIRL IN THE WHITE MERCEDES
By Joseph Goosey
Facing extinction of the worst
nature
some dinosaurs in the back yard
said
‘No mas’.
I am not up, not awake
til the
sound of a once great metropolis
begging at the hands
of a
wrecking ball
is heard outside my
window
some things do not
pan out
the way the construction of
Greece
did
and this I understand
but what gets to me is the
girl
who walks through doors that are too
tiny
for her insides but not for the thing we’ve all got
called
“soul”
“Hi” is what I say to her
but the
stones of her indifference pelt me in the
skull
the car that she gets into, hopefully
it will take her
other
places that are filled with like
minds
Appeals to that commonly shared feeling of human nature…lonliness, when the very fibre of our being cuts against this pining grain…happiness is not being alone, it’s being with someone, but mandatorilly (ultimately?) with someone who’s on the same wavelength, or in this case–a compatible car. I dream of the young working class video check-out girls (with nerdy glasses and an attractive dousing of intelligensia, getting off work and peeling out in their black Ford Mustangs with the windows down jamming to the new Bravery album [plug..plug]. It’s an easy pitfall to let your imagination/longing take over and equip the perfect persona to a beautiful face…i’ve done it many times to later find out those people are nothing as romantic or ideal as I had dreamed. But then again, others who you wouldn’t expect surprise the hell out of you…that’s life.
The poem…perfect title. Interesting spacing and lines—it worked for me! It’s refreshing to read poetry, that although it might address a romantic notion, it uses vernacular every day language like “no mas” and “pan out”. I had to laugh at the intro: “Facing extinction of the worst/ nature/ some dinosaurs in the back yard/ said/ ‘no mas’; it sets the stage and mood excellently, it just reminded me of when I worked fast food to put myself thru college…my crew manager took me to a back room and showed me a pic of a dinosaur (stegosaurus, i think) with a red line drawn thru it, and asked: ‘what does this mean?’ I said, “No Dinosaurs allowed”. He said, “It means adapt or become extinct…meaning i shouldn’t be so resistent to change (while making minimum wage). And I couldn’t help thinking…but how do you avoid comets?
Anyway, reading this poem really helped me feel unalone in feeling lonely, which is a good thing…we’re all in this together! Thanks Joseph Goosey. Can your next poem be ‘The Girl in the Black Mustang GTO’ ? Of a realized love?
so very clean, but edged out w/ “no mas.” each stanza sends its own intriguing message. very good poem, no critique.