.................................
A Quick Trip Into Town
.................................

We hopped into Grandpa's pick-up, blue striped
Ford full of grain dust, dirt, the smell of spilled oil,
and a flannel shirt with stains. Fargo AM talk radio
and an oldies station from Iowa, that's all there was to
cover up that diesel engine noise, to hide my boredom,
to keep him from asking me questions about fractions
and the school program and my teacher.

That trip into town to the grain elevator with Grandpa
was just enough to satisfy my Coca-Cola sweet tooth,
with those 50 cent glass bottles, a little dusty, that had
to be returned to this elevator office where no one ever
seemed to be working, bottles stacked in boxes right next
to the weighing machines and the thick books with all
of those numbers.

We drove over to M & J's Bar to call Mom to see if dinner was
going to be ready when we got there. I tried not to look
at things, at those dark bottles, and at the three men at the table.
I kept my eyes on the juke box and the candy bars.
The bartender lady asked me for my ID and everyone
laughed. I thought I was in trouble, but Grandpa ruffled
my hair and smiled.

.................................
Katherine Holman
.................................

 
Copyright © Katherine Holman
April 1999

...a poem in this room by Isaac Brody...
candy
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