West Oakland, 1985

 
She found rock'n roll drummers obnoxious
but she gave him head anyway,
staring at the glittered wings of a clay cherub
that hung from his headboard.
She could see the pier outside,
tiny boats rocking against it,
and she kept a rhythm to them.
The cherub clattered against the post.
His thigh pressed into her breast
as he came. Liquid porcelain doused her neck.
His face turned in that last moment of release.
She recalled an image from her youth:
a neighbor boy of five making a wish
as he blew out the candles on his birthday cake
eyes shut, breath drawn in
then the exhalation and rise of smoke
from those extinguished points of flickering light.

©2005 by Eugenia Hepworth Petty

                                                                                                                                                                                               

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Eugenia Hepworth Petty's work has appeared in various publications, including, most recently, The Newport Review, Brick and Mortar Review, and The Pedestal Magazine. She is presently working on a manuscript of poetry and photography related to her experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine from 1995-1997.