"Taxi Bone"
Michael McQuarrie
Momma moved like a swan
curved along vacuums
arced over dust rags
danced at sinks
jumped rope in the living room
gave great bear hugs
watered high ferns and cacti
and children that she grew like plants
the bone
came from a taxi driver
saw days of picking up fares
running meters
tick, tick, tick
mornings of slow riding
can you go faster
thrown change
no change
this whistle
that "taxi!"
those legs
tick, tick, tick
days of big yellow
counting airports
sniffing courtrooms
evenings of tiring typists
retiring clerks
smothered laborers
nights of underage drinkers
swinging bingers
beaten wives and sleeping angels
tick, tick, tick
meter running down
and down
stop
the interval passed quickly
between disk slipped
fracture
hospital
surgery
taxi driver's bone
fit momma's neck
those days were pink bathrobe
cushion pillows
help me up
momma standing like a 2x4 ran down her spine
hiding the scar below her neck
with scarves, bandannas, kleenexes
beautiful, bold, red-eyed
dad driving the stove
brother brandishing vacuum
sister scrubbing floors
me dropping by for money
those days held pain
in momma's eyes
these days momma embraces again
hugs with both arms again
turns her head as she talks
classes, job
doesn't wear turtlenecks anymore
she moves gracefully
like sunset in a summer rain
warming
sustaining
nurturing
but every so often
I swear
I can hear a meter running
tick, tick, tick,
and see a flash of zesty yellow
drive across her smile
"Taxi Bone" appeared on the Word of Mouth website (Athens, GA). McQuarrie will be reading tonight, April 25, in a birthday celebration at the Live Poets Society open mic at Flicker Bar in Athens from 6-8 pm along with other local writers. He is scheduled to be the featured reader at the May 4th monthly Word of Mouth open mic at The Globe.
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