Gibson’s Landing (Summer 2021)
the bark of broken mufflers
pickup trucks idle
at the Starbuck’s drive through
air con running
a gang of bikers
middle-aged and leather clad
roar up the coastal highway
it’s been a long hot summer
fun fun fun
in the pandemic pause
(is this the real life
is this just fantasy?)
and yes, it’s hot
but it’s a guilty heat
and there’s the nagging feeling
that the future has arrived too early
that science fiction has become fact
smoke from forest fires
silts the lungs of the town
Daddy never did take the T Bird away.
(songs quoted and misquoted in the poem: “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen and “Fun! Fun! Fun! by the Beach Boys)
Taking part in Open Link Night over at dverse.
Also taking part in Open Link Weekend over at earthweal.
Stopdraggingthepanda 
I really like this poem. It sums up the times we live in accurately. (is this the real life
is this just fantasy?) – I find I am wondering the same thing more and more these days.
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Thanks Suzanne!
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I feel this. Sometimes, I wish it were fantasy–the world has changed too much nearly in the past two years alone, it’s like one thing after the next. I never could have imagined this happening outside of science fiction either. Goes to show you never know what to expect, and hey, sci-fi was kind of right once again.
Very well written, I really liked these lines:
“smoke from forest fires
silts the lungs of the town
Daddy never did take the T Bird away.”
A perfect closer!
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Thanks Lucy!
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I wish it were fantasy or some sci-fi script but, we are living in real-time. So much to deal with in life and this ever changing world. At least Starbucks’s is still there…
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Yes indeed!
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Loved your interlude of
“(is this the real life
is this just fantasy?)”
It came at the perfect time, in the perfect place.
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Thanks Ron!
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My daughters accused me just the other night of going to Shake Shack instead of the library…
Pop songs were always fact, but now science fiction too…it’s all too much. (K)
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It can’t be the library every time!!!
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Life today seems a mixture of reality and fantasy and you’ve encapsulated it very well. I like the addition of lyrics here and there. Well done!
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Thank you Beverly!
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Two thoughts: this is not a fantasy AND this poem rocks!
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Thanks Helen!
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If only Daddy had taken that T Bird away…
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Brilliant end!
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Thanks Kim!
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I love this poem, it’s so evocative, the image of the middle-aged gang of bikers, the guilty heat that the future has arrived too early. I absolutely felt that ❤
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Thanks Sunra!
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Starbucks in Gibsons. OMG. I lived in Sechelt in 1975/76………..no such thing there then. Smiles. Science fiction has become fact indeed, rather abruptly catching us unprepared.
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Thanks Sherry!
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Nice weaving of lyrics within the poem and I like the unique way you drive home the message.
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Thanks Mish!
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Daddy sure shoulda taken that T Bird away. The future roared in way too early.
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Love the atmospherics, Jim, somehow I can read your work and let the apocalypse be for a while. It’s because you create the feeling of another, warmer, world even when the sorry facts are there …
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Thanks Steve!
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