BE-BOB-A-LULA REVISITED
For Larry Monroe

She drives a rusted Buick.
She wears a permanent bouffant.
Grains of powder mingle with sweat
and cold cream in the lines of her face.
She married a Sergeant. He retired,
They stayed in San Antone
And shop at the PX.
She loves earrings and Jesus.
They go to floorshows
And dance country-western.

She buys tacky handicrafts
As gifts for her daughter
Who is having an affair with
Her mother's ex-hairdresser.
The hairdresser writes poetry
And wants to be a priest
Except for he cant
Because He's married.
The daughter smokes long, mentholated
Low tar, generic cigarettes.

Bebop Alula still wears red dresses.
The tile smokes as she walks across
The shopping center floor to see me.
I still love her. I could kill the sergeant.
But he knows karate and reads
Soldier of Fortune Magazines.
Perhaps I should become a hairdresser too.