This poem was published by Eskimo Pie in February.  Yes, a Duran Duran reference!

The Reflex

 

The lead guitarist’s butterfly collar

framed the half opened polyester shirt

exposing the sable chest hair that

matched his fuzzy head.

Shiny silver dress slit high

up the lead singer’s

thigh as she begins

her scorching rendition

of Gloria Gaynor.

 

I will survive

Oh, as long as I know …

 

It reminds of my mother’s obsession with

 

All oldies – all of the time

 

Songs that tormented my youth

with a quick rotation of the radio dial.

 

Love, love me do…

 

The lyrics of one Beatles song or another—

nothing but a good oldie would do for my mother.

 

As I sat watching the misfit 70’s band

leave the stage at the dive bar of my college existence

where I often drank after creative writing workshops—

sometimes more than others, sometimes harder than others—

the thoughts of the funky polyester pants dissipate

and memories of my mother’s radio fade

giving way to another time when I was young,

and Duran Duran’s “The Reflex”

made everything seem so much easier.