Friday, July 1, 2016
Nathanael O'Reilly #1 Exploring the Neighborhood
Exploring the Neighborhood After Ten Days
Confined at Home Due to Surgery
Three flags fly above the Baptist church
ready for July 4th the sign proclaims
THIS SUNDAY: PATRIOTIC SERMON
a new girl named Tatiana rings up
my salt and vinegar chips and six-pack
of IPA at Brookshire’s supermarket
my favorite neighbor has traded in
his Land Rover for a Suburban
losing his hint of European cool
three more houses are for sale
or lease and Matt across the street
has just mown and edged his lawn
the woman with pink personalized
license plates proclaiming OIL WFE
is moving out leaving trash behind
the basketball courts, baseball fields
and playground are all deserted
the kids trapped indoors by the heat
Old Ray on Olympic watches the street
on a plastic chair in his open garage
Katie panting faithfully alongside
empty recycling bins lie helpless
on their sides waiting for fathers
to come home and carry them inside
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Wonderful snapshots of your neighbourhood, Nathanael. I really enjoyed the many understated perspectives on suburban masculinity here. Really nice work.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Efi. I wasn't trying to say much about masculinity, apart from the traditional gender roles in the last stanza, but now that you mention it I can see the theme running through the poem. Just one of the reasons why it's great to have intelligent readers!
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