Cranshaw on the Road / Chapel Access
by Bill Yarrow
CRANSHAW ON THE ROAD
"Every tunnel's a piercing, every road's
a tattoo. The billboards are wrinkles,
road signs are scars. I saw eternity
last night wearing a sarong and smoking
a cigar." Jaysus Chrysalis! Who does
this guy think he is? Marty muttered
and glared at the broken line that stuttered
in front of him. Madeleine in the back seat
touched him on the neck. "Why so ornery?"
Why? Why??? "Hey, lighten up. It's a long ride."
Marty snarled. Snake belt! Zebra suspenders!
Alligator hat! His very being offends me.
The guy's a veritable catastrophe of badness.
"What's that? Did you say something, asshole?"
The billboards are wrinkles, road signs are scars.
Cranshaw said he saw eternity last night
wearing a sarong and smoking a cigar.
“You're full of it, Cranshaw,” I said
and stared at the fraudulent broken line
that stuttered in front of me. Madeleine
in the back seat touched me on the neck.
"Why so ornery?" she asked. "Why?
2008. 2009. 2010. That's why," I snarled.
What was eating me? Continental drift. Urban
sprawl. Cranshaw! His smarmy teeth and
mildew jitterbug. His checked suspenders
and dragonfly belt. 2011. Maybe everything.
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Author's Note
A version of this poem was published in fwriction : review on November 17, 2011 as "Chapel Access."
This poems appears in Incompertent Translations and Inept Haiku (Cervena Barva Press 2013).
Nominated for a 2012 Best of the Net award.
Thanks, Danny Goodman!
"Cranshaw on the Road" appears in THE VIG OF LOVE (Glass Lyre Press, 2016).
Other stories by Bill Yarrow
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I love everything about this, no maybe about it.
Really enjoyed, Bill.
Wonderful poem, Bill.
yes, yes.
Off to buy a sarong and a good, Cuban cigar...*
Fave. I like your poetry here, Bill. I'll keep an eye out for it in November, too.
The poem actually appeared in 2011. :)
Oy! What a proofreader I am! Thanks for the correction, Danny!
What everyone else said. Except JP. I gave up cigars a while back.
Love this - the voice is killer *
Why yes - Great writing, Bill. I know that voice.
"'Why so ornery?' she asked. 'Why?
2008. 2009. 2010. That's why,' I snarled."
Great. Love the way this started out.
"Every tunnel's a piercing, every road's a tattoo.
The billboards are wrinkles, road signs are scars." Starts out with THAT, which totally sets the pace and it just gets better as you go - but before you know it it's already over - like one of my favorite old songs coming in at just over 2 minutes. *!
Loved it. *
Love the opening line, Bill. Great piece. *
Everything for sure, you ornery old bastard. :)
*
Instead of more cow bell, let's have more Cranshaw. Fave.