STAGNATION
L.R. DALBY
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Small town punks with no thought of the future,
and nothing to do but fuck, drink, and smoke,
sit on the side of the road.
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They eye a dollar tree wedding reception in the park
across the street wind down to a close.
-
A teenage bride is garbed in a glittery polyester dress,
with heavy makeup to conceal her youth.
A new husband pulls generic brand bath salt,
hand sanitizer,
mismatched cutlery in a plastic zip lock sack,
and a cinnamon scented candle out of a Christmas themed gift bag.
-
The newlyweds look at each other for a moment,
smiling because this is the best they can hope for in life.
-
And they know it.
-
The young husband thanks his grandmother
and uncle Larry for the present.
-
Uncle Larry takes a drag off his cigarette,
shrugging noncommittally,
and returns to his lawn chair.
-
Grandmother is busy flirting with anyone who notices,
French tip nails clacking on a plastic hair barrette,
she ruffles aerosol can crisped hair.
She’s forgotten about the couple in front of her.
-
The small town punks looked away,
bored,
and play chicken with oncoming traffic.
Art by MIRANDA ROGERS.
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L.R. Dalby is the founder/editor of PIPE DREAM magazine. She adores sushi, Portland Poetry Slam, and small rockin’ concerts. She’s really, really good at Mario Kart. Brussel sprouts suck.
Miranda M. Rogers is an old-style southern belle + piercings. Basically, she’s everything you could ever want.
