Eric Paul Shaffer - Lovers on Pulehu Road, Between the Sugar Mill and the Maui County Dump

Eric Paul Shaffer - Lovers on Pulehu Road, Between the Sugar Mill and the Maui County Dump

His beat-up green pickup faces Haleakala, her thrashed br Celica toward K-Mart, on the shoulder of Pulehu Road. The lovers br stand in roadside mud, arms encircling br br each other, gazing over a field of sugar cane at two boiling columns br of smoke rising from the mill. They stand too close to be casual, br br toes dirtied where they hang over the slipper's edge. br The afternoon reveals they should not be here, should not be br together, that only half their hearts attempt br br to conceal their meeting. I drive past, but they do not look over, br knowing everyone on the island knows everyone else. br br Not wanting to see themselves seen, their heads remain turned away. br My windows are down, and the stink of the dump rattles br white plastic bags tangled in kiawe trees. br br I'm glad they let me pass without a glance. I don't want to know br whose wife she is or who his children are br br or recognize a Safeway cashier or a meter-reader for Maui Electric. br My mirror shows unmoved lovers embracing br beneath ragged, windy limbs as trash cartwheels across the road. br br They know the road to the dump is far too public br for a lover's lane, and they have not forgotten their families br br and their friends drive this red-stained, two-lane blacktop br to throw away what they no longer want, what they have used br beyond use, and all the many things they have broken.


User: PoemHunter.com

Views: 0

Uploaded: 2014-11-07

Duration: 01:48

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