Sunday, August 02, 2020

New Poetry by Patricia Carragon










Having a Party
 
Anna had a good time   grooving to Sam Cooke on the radio 
time-traveled back to when she   a teenager
teased her hair   wore pencil skirts   twisted to 45s 
put popcorn on the Formica table   drank Cokes from the Frigidaire
chatted to friends about Johnny   the bad boy from Glenwood Road
 
her American dream resided in expectation
the princess wedding gown   the white picket fence around a Flatbush Victorian 
the family genes to be passed on
 
no matter how hard she tried   Johnny left her for Sally
 
other men kept their distance   
& early menopause called her instead
 
her wedding dress burned   her unborn kids buried   
her Victorian house sold to developers 
 
for a lifetime of work   a meager social security check    EBT benefits
& a cramped one-bedroom apartment with her tabby    Jenny
 
a cracked mirror meant 7 more years of bad luck 
& further decline in her reflection
 
she lived in quarantine before it became mandatory   
held on to her past in boxes   shopping bags   & 45s
 
the song ended   & Anna felt dizzy 
on her torn sofa   she thought about Johnny   Sally   & what transpired
 
with eyes still open   her head rested on the frayed throw pillow
 
Jenny tapped Anna’s shoulder   sniffed under her nose & mouth
realized that she was not responding

  
- © Patricia Carragon 2020


Patricia Carragon is the author of several books of poetry and fiction.  Her most recent poetry collections are Meowku (Poets Wear Prada) and Innocence (Finishing Line Press). Her debut novel, Angel Fire, is forthcoming from Alien Buddha Press. Patricia hosts the Brownstone Poets reading in Brooklyn and publishes an associated anthology annually. She is also an executive editor for Home Planet News Online.

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