Saturday, January 12, 2013

Jukebox (Boombox), Baby



Joan Jett on cassette
softball summers
of field-dirt-crusted scabs
on my knees
and thighs
sliding into second
my dad said I never did it quite right
because there should be more on my thighs
if I were

a cherry Tootsie Roll Pop
with a ‘tude
sneaking gin and Jack Daniels
and smokes
dreaming of VW Super Beetles with glitter in the paint
or a ‘64 convertible Mustang, cherry red too, of course—
and The Outsiders

fast-forward
in audible
relief, mom and dad,
glad
I didn’t turn out wielding
a six-string and blowing sugar pops
but still I do
Love Rock ‘n Roll


Copyright 2013 Jennifer Wagner

At dVerse Poets Pub master prompter and poet Stuart McPherson has us writing about 'Growing Up'

38 comments:

Brian Miller said...

ah i grew up again in your words...haha...we played a lot of field baseball and had scabbed knees....joan jett...ha, nice...the audible relief...yeah i think my parents had that as well...cool verse...

Unknown said...

Love your ending. You still have that tough side to you even though you grew up. :)

Laurie Kolp said...

Great journey through childhood... from sports to sneaking drinks... Joan Jett brings back lots of memories.

Grace said...

I love the recollections ~ I believe somehow we do find our own unique journey, and its not as bad as our parents feared its going to be ~

ND Mitchell said...

Excellent memories put together in a way that had me recalling my own. Loved the retro feel to this with the Outsiders and Joan Jett. Really liked the way you fast forwarded the cassette in the last verse.

Mary said...

I loved all of your reminscing here..love those softball summers...and I remember them too. Smiles.

Anonymous said...

Brilliant...just love it and rock n roll...sounds like a lot of fun!

Anonymous said...

such great and vividly painted nostalgia...i like to think that the closing lines mean that whilst we haven't ended up quite where we expected in life, we can still have dreams, in fact, it is VITAL that we do

J Cosmo Newbery said...

Childhood and scabbed knees? It was a badge of office! Worn with pride.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Those were the days...as they say...thanks Bri!

Jennifer Wagner said...

I've been told that before...a lot...recently...ha...thanks Gretchen. I really enjoyed your piece for the prompt as well.

Jennifer Wagner said...

I think I wore that tape out...thanks for commenting Laurie :)

Jennifer Wagner said...

I think you're right in many respects...thanks much Grace.

Jennifer Wagner said...

My 12 year old recently read The Outsiders and that fired up a lot of memories...a perfect prompt to at least make mention...thanks so much ND--always appreciate your words :)

Jennifer Wagner said...

Those were some fun times...smiles back...

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thanks Di! Loved your piece for the prompt too.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Amen. Great prompt Stu, as always! Thanks so much.

Jennifer Wagner said...

True dat sir.

Claudia said...

smiles..so cool...i had a vw beetle as my first car..oh it spoke of freedom...smiles...wonderful memories..and yeah..i too love rock n roll still...smiles

Anonymous said...

Very cool. You painted the picture so clearly with your words.

Kathy Reed said...

..you must be my daughter's age..fun images..my first car was a 1965 beetle and I still love rock and roll..:)

Ginny Brannan said...

Loved your "child to teen to adult" approach.Great job painting a picture of your youth. Glad to know you still love rock and roll (so do I)!!

Jennifer Wagner said...

I really wanted one with the glitter paint for awhile...ha...fun stuff :)

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thanks David, glad you stopped by!

Jennifer Wagner said...

Why stop? :-)

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thanks very much Ginny :-)

Sherry Blue Sky said...

I SO LOVE THIS POEM! Sigh. Those were the days, my friend........

lucychili said...

familiar imagery, great snapshots with grit and sparkle. rock on =)

Jennifer Wagner said...

ahhhh yes...indeed they were :)

Jennifer Wagner said...

'Grit and Sparkle' my new band name ;)

Susie Clevenger said...

Rock on!! Keep a bit of that rebel in you. :)

Unknown said...

This poem reminded me of when as a child I wanted to play a lot of baseball, but in Italy it is not easy to look beyond football.

Anonymous said...

Joan Jett wasn't really big over here - except for that song! I loved it - my Dad didn't. Odd to think that only a few months later he didn't turn a hair when Iron Maiden were blasting out of my room!!!

Jennifer Wagner said...

Can't seem to get rid of it ;)

Unknown said...

Casettes! Do kids today even know what those are?!

Jennifer Wagner said...

I would have missed being able to play it. Thanks for stopping by Matteo.

Jennifer Wagner said...

'...Hear the rime of the ancient mariner...' now you're taking me back again... :-)

Jennifer Wagner said...

Ha! I don't think they do. :)