Bonnie Maurer



IN ROHALL'S DINER

after a painting by Red Rohall

 
Silver stools line up
along the counter
like chorus dancers
about to spin.  Enter
Betty and Jules to
take them for a twirl
on seats red as sweet-
heart candy.
 
Jack the soda jerk,
swipes his towel at
their elbows propped, hands
hooked, smiles and takes his
pen, "What'll you have
America in 1941?
Skyscraper Sundae,
Adam and Eve on
a Raft, Pig Between
Two Sheets, "V" for victory
at all costs, innocence
fizzing in the glass?"
 
"Boogie Woogie Bugle
Boy" floods the juke.
The walls blaze yellow
as the hot summer
day. No one they know
has gone to war. Betty
has not yet delivered
their son while Jules learns
to drop bombs. Two straws
in a nickel Coke.
Jack waves so long.
Outside the diner
their Buick grinsall
its chrome teeth shining.



Bonnie Maurer earned an MFA in poetry from Indiana University. She is the author of four small-press chapbooks: Reconfigured (Finishing Line Press, 2009); Ms. Lily Jane Babbitt Before the Ten O'clock Bus from Memphis Ran Over Her (Raintree Press and Ink Press, 2nd edition); Old 37: The Mason Cows (Barnwood Press); and Bloodletting: A Ritual Poem for Women's Voices (Ink Press).  She has poems forthcoming in War Literature & the Arts, and in an anthology:  And Know This Place: Poetry of Indiana.   Maurer has conducted creative writing/healing workshops for the homeless in recovery, for the HIV+/AIDS affected/infected population and for cancer patients at The Wellness Center.  She grew up in Indianapolis where she continues to live and work as a poet for Young Audiences of Indiana, as a copy editor for the Indianapolis Business Journal, and as an Ai Chi (aquatic flowing energy) instructor.










                                    

 

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