Departure with Still Life

Abstract

Departure with Still Life Mary Lou Buschi (bio) Behind you the keening of an osprey, a frenzy of gnats thrust from their swarm, the bass line of Dazed and Confused rolling itself out between baneberries— as your car wheels spin gravel into an amusement park ride, children slide off polished horses, girls with lips—slick, with fruity gloss swish past carnival hands. You twist the knob back to find the fuzz in between stations— the real song eludes you. Maybe if you played it backward—the rusty Bronco crowns from the ditch, fields of sweet corn smile like new teeth, your heart unzips into a blood red purse. In the distance, a sheet of spider lightning plumbs the earth for a charge, as the footprints you left in the shag rug linger— until the carpet is flush and the road knits itself back into darkness. [End Page 11] Mary Lou Buschi Mary Lou Buschi’s poems have appeared in The Laurel Review, Indiana Review, The Collagist, Pank, Swink, Dark Sky, RHINO, SIR, among others. Her poems are forthcoming in Gargoyle, and Rhino (2012). Mary Lou is a full-time special education teacher in the Bronx. This is her first appearance in cream city review. Copyright © 2012 University of Wisconsin Board of Regents