Palm Springs At the End of the Mind

A father counted cards,
his prized club sandwiches
small wagers from aged
sports gods. Bain de
Soleil the height of local
vocabulary. Slim-
Fast sped time.
So did valets, fondues,
tan-thighed gals with
department store names.
Eyes matched the pool.

Then time shrank. Paid
gossips and hard rulers
of state drifted off
to eras where their names
were blanks. Stiff
Halstons withered.
Pools turned cold,
chlorine flecked green,
mold dusted gruyère.
A Hollywood no
longer in syndication.

I'd like to say solidarity
would have helped them.
But who really knows?
And what came next?
Many later fatherlands
we fixed upon
that always failed us.





From Monetized (Miami University Press, 2015). All rights reserved. Reprinted with the permission of the author.