When you think of L.A., you may think "Cars," but do you also think "Poetry"?
Award-winning poet Carolyn Howard-Johnson recently re-published this lovely poem on her Facebook Page. It evokes in delicious detail her neighborhood walks past a neighbor who enjoys tinkering with his car. She has given me permission to share it (even if you are not a "Poetry Buff," I believe you will find this an enjoyable read:
The Vintage Corvette and Its Man
The man who polished
his Corvette to the sound
of concertos—usually
piano—crackling slightly
(radio tubes), a lament
in the dusks of some twenty
summers, wasn't there last
spring or this. I didn't interrupt
his idle then, lying there beneath
his aqua and blue rrrrrmm,
rrrrmmm, plates coded black
and gold from, California 70s, no,
more like the 50s…likely
the one he spit-polished
in his teens, couldn't disturb
his meditation. Now,
I walk my dog in June,
jasmine in the evening
air—unseen blossoms—I long
to hear his garage door yawn,
hanging from its umbilical
cord above his workbench,
hear KMozart broadcast
from that radio (shaped
like a gothic window), older
than the car itself. Then in
twilight, I hear the door
rise on its springs. Trixie
and I cross the street
specters in the quiet. A chamois,
untended, brittle, cracked, sits
atop the crusted hood,
his wife carries a plastic bag
tied like a bandana
around decay—doesn't bother
with light or radio—tells
me, this vintage thing, tires
now cracked, is waiting
for magic emollients,
Carnauba, Magclean
ArmorAll and his grandson
to come from Cleveland to claim
it, once he’s old enough to drive.
Originally published in
Carolyn Howard-Johnson's new, rather brilliant book of poetry, Imperfect Echoes: Writing Truth and Justice with Capital Letters, lies and oppression with small is available at Amazon. Please check it out!
ABOUT CAROLYN HOWARD-JOHNSON
=======================================================
ABOUT CAROLYN HOWARD-JOHNSON
- Best known as The Frugal Book Promoter.
- Youngest person ever hired as staff writer for the Salt Lake Tribune--"A Great Pulitzer Prize Winning Newspaper."
- Editorial assistant at Good Housekeeping Magazine (NYC).
- Handled PR accounts (press releases) for fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert.
- Columnist for The Pasadena Star News, Home Decor Buyer and the Glendale News-Press.
- Currently columnist for My Shelf: "Back to Literature" (giving out annual "Noble Prize").
- Graduate of University of Southern California.
- Instructor for UCLA Extension Program
- Award-Winning Novelist: "This Is the Place"
- Award-Winning Non-Fiction: "Harkening"
- Chapbook of Poetry named "Ten Best Reads" by the Compulsive Reader
- Won Irwin Award (Book Publicists of Southern California
- Named Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award by California Legislature.
Hook up with Carolyn and enjoy her communications at:
Sharing with Writers and Readers blog (A Writer's Digest 101 Best Websites
pick!)
Carolyn Howard-Johnson.com
You can subscribe to Carolyn's newsletter by sending an e-mail with "subscribe" in the subject line to HoJoNews@aol.com.
You can subscribe to Carolyn's newsletter by sending an e-mail with "subscribe" in the subject line to HoJoNews@aol.com.
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