hot bright mall sunshine in the panhandle
PVC palm trees brush past the polyester
print 46 leather purse stack heel queen
of shootemup, texas
Joslin Holdimdown
past sweet is the sweetheart of
shootemup high the past master of
the white high roller skate
romance dance at the shootemup skate rink
bubble gum and the pink two-piece with the
heart shape cut out over her bottom
lemme tell ya she was somethin then
all the tan young future farmers and
methcoated truckers flexed for the gaze
of the high blond aura of the queen
of shootemup high
she picked out of the pack — Bud Jackson, of course
’cause he had the arms and the temper
to shitkick the competition and Joslin
liked that
Joslin went out with a geek once from band
he didn’t know his manhood wouldn’t survive the night
but she did
hear tell Bud did something to him
something permanent
he went away and left
Joslin and Bud on the altar of the Holy Mother
of Christ Church of Shootemup
Bud got a job slinging concrete
and they got a condo in the new park
behind the skate rink next to the walmart
sweet orange carpet and green linoleum
and a dodge with a builtin tool box
two miscarriages and the boy came
Bud liked ‘im at first but he shit in the tub
and that’s too much for a man ta take
Joslin let Bud have his way with the boy
she watched with pruny lips and muttered
’bout him deservin’ it the little shit
later, in the long days of vodlka
the little shit got locked in the closet
with Bud at work and Joslin on the serta
with the ex-con welding technician
Bud got saggy and meaner, full of beer and meat
he bitched and beat the little shit
while joslin with the pruny lips
looked on with satisfaction
pleasant twinges and the warmth of the hardtimer
two more vodka tonics at the Shootemup Hi-Lo
and she’s ready again
1982 divorce and Joslin moved into the trailer
park joined a gym and got a facelift
Bud moved to Oklahoma with Jody Sanders
and the little shit ran away from home
Joslin switched to Marlboro lights
bought a scrunchee and a new TV
working at the mall
hitting on the 22 year old bartender
at the black angus after twelve vodkas
and giving advice to everyone from the place
of been there honey
she got the gravel voice and then got saved
at Holy Father of Christ for the third time
and went canvassing for the Shootemup Republican
Minority Voter Registration Drive
she knocked on Bud’s door one day ’cause
Bud moved back and was workin’ his old job
after catching Jody with an ex-con HVAC technician
they had rough sex on the floor
and lived together for five months
until she couldn’t stand the smell of old failure
and started over again
in Backsheeit, Arkansas
with a man she married when he was in prison
for television theft
and petty larceny
no one ever knew where the little shit went to
but he moved to California and became
a Highway Patrolman
who liked to play softball