She Tried To Be Good

Shirley Brewer

My bookmark lauds pulp fiction, some dark froth

called The Amazing Story of Carrie-Daughter of Sin.

Carrie’s image appears front and center—

50’s blonde hairdo, arched brows a la Joan Crawford,

startling crimson lips, cone-shaped bra

a statement beneath that tight red sweater,

the classic yellow pencil skirt, a hint of a slit

up the side. One hand on her hip—elbow

jutting out—the other resting on a bus stop sign.

 

Behind her, a man leers from a black car. He looks

gin-spent and ready to lean on the horn.

C’mon, girls, we’ve all been Carrie at least once,

tempted by the lure of the next bus, or a guy

who promises the moon dolled up in a fancy box.

Yeah, I’ll take care of you baby, he assures,

revving his Chevy Bel Air.  Then he disappears

down the long road. No goodbye, not even a wave.

I swear Carrie winks at me as I turn the page

of the latest mystery I’m reading.

We’re both trying so hard to be good.

Shirley J. Brewer (Baltimore MD) serves as the resident poet at Carver Center for the Arts, and on the board of directors of Passager Books. Nominated three times for a Pushcart Prize, her poems garnish Barrow Street, Tar River Poetry, Gargoyle, Poetry East, Loch Raven Review, among other journals and anthologies. Shirley’s poetry books include A Little Breast Music (Passager Books), After Words (Apprentice House Press), Bistro in Another Realm (Main Street Rag), and Wild Girls (Apprentice House Press).  Website: shirleyjbrewer.com Interviewed in January, 2020 by Maryland poet laureate, Grace Cavalieri, for her series “The Poet and the Poem” at the Library of Congress, Shirley’s poems are part of the Lunar Codex program, and are currently on the moon!