CIRCUMSPECT
“But really, what’s it
really like?” Her friend
twirls the question,
twirls the straw
in her soda topped
with cream and maraschino.
The chrome shines.
The girls shine
in the diner designed
by TV shows that show
the poodle-skirt fifties.
The conversation twirls
around the one girl’s
wedding in two weeks.
Her married friend
scoots her straw around
the bottom of her glass
and says, “It’s like
the shiny wears off,
the clean needs cleaning,
the cream’s still sweet,
the sticky part is where
your fingerprints stay on.”
—from Rattle #44, Summer 2014
__________
JoLee G. Passerini: “My last contributor note said I was moving to Florida. Well, I did, and I’m still here and teaching full-time at Brevard Community College—which is no excuse to let my own poetry writing languish, but that’s what I’ve done for the last several years. So, partly because my students are producing such great work and making me feel like a slacker—I’m writing again!”