Walking home after school, a busy-ish street.
Safe enough
A car heading to the curb, strange voice calling out
words are garbled, is he lost?
She moves closer, realizes he is communicating in a foreign language
but his exposure needs no translation
she stumbles back in horror and shame
runs home, hating the city,
hating her life...
hating her life...
Big City girl in the big city, twenty or twenty-one and alone. Choosing solitude
Familiar corner, familiar neighborhood
Her town
She parks, gets a magazine and plots her course.
She'll drive the twisting roads of... 285?
She opens the car door, jumps in, and starts the engine
nothing but blue sky and a beautiful day in front of her
She turns on the music
pulls the pins out of her hair
shaking the last of a long night's work
out of her curls
Pulling out onto the street
nothing but blue sky and a beautiful day in front of her
She turns on the music
pulls the pins out of her hair
shaking the last of a long night's work
out of her curls
Pulling out onto the street
A hand comes up from behind, "pull over"
obedient, but defiant,
she stops
she stops
he fumbles with the seat latch
crawls out of the back
crawls out of the back
not waiting to see if he has a knife,
not wanting to know if he will come at her with a gun
she fights
then turns just in time
a car pulling out from a nearby drive
District 4 police station a block away,
car heading out on duty
car heading out on duty
sees her waving, pulls up in time to ask
"what's going on here?"
(is that what he said?
She only remembers pouring out that the man
had been in the back of her car, hand came up
told her to pull over...)
"She attacked me. She hit me in the back of the head! You saw that!"
Poor sad sack intruder
Poor sad sack intruder
as he's led away in cuffs
Not the way she would choose
to grow up
to learn
to fight for herself
but nevertheless
she will learn she is
Strong Enough
(this is a true story-- I referenced the attempted carjacking some time back and had said I might blog on it but didn't want to just write the story... this is a better way to frame it because THIS is truer)
(this is a true story-- I referenced the attempted carjacking some time back and had said I might blog on it but didn't want to just write the story... this is a better way to frame it because THIS is truer)
Well done, Danette. You captured this well.
ReplyDeleteWe NEED poetry for experiences like these, for emotions like these. I know I do.
Well done, Danette.
ReplyDeleteI was there with both ladies. Drew me right in.
Michael
Thank you Sarah! Poetry is truly the only way to express if strongly enough, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteMichael: Thank you too! It's gratifying to have communicated a very vivid experience well enough to have evoked response. But that's what we want as writers, eh?
I LOVE Savannah! She rocks:)
ReplyDeleteI was in Key West for a day this Christmas, and I LOVED that too! Really want to go back! It was just as I thought it would be:)