Tag: Poems

NaPoWriMo 2014, Poetry22 Comments

Driving To New Mexico, 1973

Charlotte Hamrick

Stuckeys signs rise into the sky like lamp posts lighting the way from rest stop to bathroom break to late night motels with swimming pools (yay!) In between the miles I read every passing billboard – especially the ones showing sophisticated grown ups holding cocktails and cigarettes (temptation!) White and yellow stripes disappear behind us in the endless flatlands of Texas dotted with pumping rigs like giant grasshoppers bolted in the earth. The first glimpse of purple mountain slopes rise on the horizon like a wonderous mirage after the boredom of dusty plains. Green valleys and twisty roads meander through … Continue reading Driving To New Mexico, 1973

NaPoWriMo 2014, Poetry4 Comments

Summer of Mary

Charlotte Hamrick

You taught me how to shave my legs, the downy almost invisible blonde strands of silk falling to the razors swath, the last vestige of a child’s body helpless against the vanity of a teenagers critical eye. But I loved you, that summer, loved your shiny pageboy flip, your tweezed eyebrows and ice pale lips. You were sophisticated in a way I didn’t understand but coveted. Shaving my legs was only the beginning. Continue reading Summer of Mary

New Orleans2 Comments

Dirt Mamma

Charlotte Hamrick

This weekend I found a letter from my aunt that she wrote me in 2003. I have no memory of it so it was like reading it for the first time. At the time she was in Hot Springs, Arkansas with her husband, my mom and dad, and my other aunt on vacation. The three women are (were) sisters. In it she described a little about the hotel, their stay and various activities. She described an incident in a hot tub where my mom became nauseous. It was surreal, reading this as if it just happened, with my mom being dead for … Continue reading Dirt Mamma

New OrleansLeave a comment

Writing, Behind and Ahead

Charlotte Hamrick

2013 is over and I’m sitting here on the second day of the new year listening to the wind chimes in my back yard tinkling crazily in the blustery, cold wind while my husband cooks up a good winter supper of chicken fried steak and gravy. I can’t say 2013 was a very good year personally and I can’t say I’m sad to see it go but it was a pretty good writing year for me and for that I’m grateful. I had work published in Mad Swirl, St. Somewhere Journal, Michelle Elvy’s website Glow Worm, Olentangy Review and Red … Continue reading Writing, Behind and Ahead

New Orleans14 Comments

Tenacity’s Eyebrows

Charlotte Hamrick

Tenacity has salt and pepper eyebrows with a life of their own, his brain runs faster than his mouth, words tumble out falling consonents over vowels, impaling themselves on spikey exclamation points, snagging on commas and dragging ellipses.Tenacity’s eyebrows struggle to keep up with his mouth, each black hair straining against its follicle, eager to run the obstacle course, sprinting over the spikey points and hopscotching through the ellipses, persuing the riotous words but the white hairs, ah, the white hairs lie with confidence cool and calm because they know how Tenacity earned his name and that soon all these … Continue reading Tenacity’s Eyebrows