What's New on Stewart Avenue? by Adrian Slonaker

One Saturday in May

at the height of the eighties,

we collected insouciant kisses

behind the lilac bush,

a non-sequitur after the question

“what would you do in a nuclear war?”

Laura and Annie copied Cyndi Lauper off-key,

and Jerry thumped the tether ball

before I beat it back.

Beyond the trees Bill lumbered behind

a growling manual mower,

sending the spicy scent of ground grass

into suburban breezes.

Soon Madge moseyed from her kitchen,

proffering dripping popsicles and Pepsi

to all of us kids.

The Snap-on Tools guy driving past

honked a latter-day klaxon,

and, deep in the house,

my mechanical green cuckoo whistled the hour.

Now Laura is saddled with schizophrenia;

Annie strips by the airport, and

Jerry is lost to follow-up.

Bill sought slumber on his sofa and never woke up.

Madge's memory has morphed into a worsening sieve.

The Snap-on Tools guy placed a pistol against his temple,

and my mechanical green cuckoo

no longer bothers to whistle.

Adrian Slonaker currently works as a copywriter and copy editor in Urbandale, Iowa, USA. Adrian's work has been nominated for Best of the Net and has appeared in Queen Mob's Tea House, Pangolin Review, Credo Espoir, Algebra of Owls, Avatar Review and others.