Patty’s
Charcoal
Drive-in
By: Barbara Cooker
Jillian Clark
AP Lit 7 09-10
FIRST JOB
bouncing
pony
red
lipstick
tail
White
bowling
shirt
tight black shorts
I present each
as if it were a
overflowing tray
banquet
16
this job ’s as temporary
as the summer sun
college -bound
It’s the BOUNDARIES
of my
B
O
U
N
D
A
R
I
E
S
BOUNDARIES
LIFE
BOUNDARIES
B
O
U
N
D
A
R
I
E
S
After the first few
nights…
work goes
easily.
The lure of grease
drifts through
the
THICK NIGHT AIR
And it’s always
summer
Patty’s
Charcoal
Drive-in
at
Carloads of blonde and tan girls
up tee
next
to with s l i c k hair.
boys inpull
black
shirts
RED CONVERTIBLES,
Everyone knows
what they want.
I hope for tips.
flung carelessly as the s tars.
Each night repeats itself.
Each night repeats itself.
Each night repeats itself.
Towards 10 P.M., traffic dwindles.
The
dark
pours down, sticky as Coke.
light
but the
from the kitchen
gleams like a beacon.
A breeze comes up, chasing papers in
the far corners of the darkened lot,
as if suddenly a cold wind had
started to blow straight at me
from the future-
( I re a d t h a t i n a D o r i s L e s s i n g b o o k )
but right now, purse fat with
tips, the
sitting like a cheeseburger on a
flat black grill,
this is enough.
Patty’s
Charcoal
Drive-in
By: Barbara Cooker
Jillian Clark
AP Lit 7 09-10