Friday, September 29, 2006

Driving in the Driving Rain
By Don Iannone

Driving in the driving rain.
Traffic clogged like a drain pipe
filled with crap--
the sort you wish would get out of the way
and let things flow.
Herky jerky drivers--
slowing down and speeding up,
remind me of hungry sandpipers
chasing tiny crabs at the water's edge.
In the car next to me,
a rotund young woman paints her face.
I can't shake the image of a moon-faced clown,
as I watch the woman circle her lips
several times with her bright red lipstick.
The skies clear,
but my mind remains cloudy.
A thick fog sets in,
and I lose sight of where I am going.
Desperate for a cheerful note to end on,
I think of the big woman painting her face, and I smile
thinking she must buy make-up by the gallon.

10 comments:

Pat Paulk said...

By the gallon??? I like the edgyness to this!!

tao1776 said...

Well, they say that ruby red lipstick highlighting a woman's lips is sexual symbolism. Creates another rather disturbing visual, eh?

Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Thank you Pat and Tim.

Pat...yes, by the gallon, and well, that is what popped into my head as this woman threatens on lives on a busy rainy freeway putting on her make-up.

Tim...the thought never crossed my mind and the words never crossed my lips. LOL.

dumbdodi said...

hehehehehe...Don...real funny...makeup by gallon...now she would have to budget big time for that!!!!

Bob said...

I like the way you have made a poem out of being in a traffic jam. Like you I find it's satisfying to make art out of such mundane materials.

Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Thanks Dumbdodi and Rob. Traffic!!!! Art it is...the whole lot of life.

Dan said...

Very good!

Margie said...

Loved it Don!

serenity said...

"Herky jerky drivers--
slowing down and speeding up,
remind me of hungry sandpipers
chasing tiny crabs at the water's edge."

Not sure I will ever think of traffic in quite the same way again lol!

Love it, Don. Love the realness.

polona said...

you have the ability to create extraordinary out of the ordinary.
love it!

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