Thursday, September 22, 2011

Twisting into Rain

Every Saturday at noon we sat in front of the RCA
watching American Bandstand. At times we joined
in the fun, doing the twist and jitterbug until
gasping for breath we dropped to the orange shag.

That day was no different, except for the rain
pouring down on the roof like a bathtub faucet.
Mom and Dad sipped on Mimosas while playing
honeymoon bridge at the kitchen table. Sausage

sizzled on the gas stove like Jiffy popcorn,
twisted cigarette smoke into hot grease signals
while we danced along with Dick Clark, oblivious
to the spark that would soon chase us into the rain.

@laurie kolp

Prompt inspirations:
Imaginary Garden with Real Toads A Word with Laurie
Poets United Thursday Think Tank

15 comments:

Brian Miller said...

oy hopefully it did not burn the house down...nice capture of a moment...

Unknown said...

Excellent! I too hope the house didn't burn down!

kaykuala said...

In the face of what can go wrong at the stove, things appear to be under control.Great verse!

Hank

Mary said...

I like this, Laurie. You create a wonderful picture and then give us just a hint of what came next. DO hope it didn't turn out to be too serious.

Kerry O'Connor said...

I like the way you captured the nostalgic mood of the moment.. the inference that a spark may have ended it all, reminds me that it is Time, which will incinerate all such moments, with only the ashes of memory to show they ever happened.

Ella said...

Wow Laurie, so vivid and full of life. I was in the living room dancing with you! I loved Bandstand ;D

I hope this really didn't happen, the spark that is?!

Well Done and such a play on words!

Laurie Kolp said...

Thanks... and yes, this is fiction.

Daydreamertoo said...

A lovely write from you full of vivid pictures, glad it was fiction~!
My teen told me she was 'old enough' and ought to be allowed by now to make her own pancakes. I told her to go ahead and clean up the mess after her. 5 min later walked into the kitchen to see the frying pan smoking! You know, just before they catch fire! ... Hmm... I'm back to making them myself again but will teach her how (even though she already KNOWS) *rolls eyes!

Anonymous said...

there is a common theme in this poem with your previous poem "oblivious". this time the setting is a cozy family home, not JFK. there is always a real danger of being absentminded. and when kids are around, no one can be forgiven a lapse of mind. this is such a beautiful descriptive poem with that spark of danger embedded inside.

Kay L. Davies said...

So glad yours is fiction.
Mine happens to be non-fiction this time, so I did wonder.
I am up 2 1/2 hours after bedtime, because I had so much to say about this prompt. (I didn't say it all.)
— K

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

Jinksy said...

A snapshot in three stanzas... :)

gautami tripathy said...

A story told so well...


divisive

Sherry Blue Sky said...

You set this scene so well. I remember the old RCA, and American Bandstand. Sigh. Great nostalgic poem.

Ed Pilolla said...

you take me back to a different era with this. i love the mood. the sentence featuring sizzling sausage and jiffy popcorn and twisted cigarette smoke into hot grease signals was a beautiful twisting dance move itself.

madhumakhi said...

Really vivid and nostalgic.