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    Sixty-ish: Full Circle (Poems)
    Sixty-ish: Full Circle (Poems)
    Sixty-ish: Full Circle (Poems)
    Ebook127 pages30 minutes

    Sixty-ish: Full Circle (Poems)

    By Denise Thompson-Slaughter

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    About this ebook

    Join poet Denise Thompson-Slaughter as she comes full circle in her poetic life, from the revolutionary 1960s as a teen and young adult to the maturity of a woman in her sixties. Each poem stands alone but also within one of three life phases with many lessons learned and maturity reached. Thompson-Slaughter's poetic excellence shines and allows readers of all ages to appreciate her unique yet universal thoughts on social, political, and intensely personal topics.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLulu.com
    Release dateFeb 26, 2018
    ISBN9781387625802
    Sixty-ish: Full Circle (Poems)

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      Book preview

      Sixty-ish - Denise Thompson-Slaughter

      Sixty-ish: Full Circle (Poems)

      Sixty-ish

      Full Circle

      Poems

      Denise Thompson-Slaughter

      ISBN: 978-1-387-33377-6

      Copyright 2017  Spirited Muse Press

      All poetry and photography within this collection, including the cover photos, is from the personal collection of Denise Thompson-Slaughter, and may not be reproduced in any media without the author’s permission.

      No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior permission of the author or publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

      For reprint permission, to arrange readings, or to order additional copies, contact the editor directly at [email protected].  Visit the press online at spiritedmusepress.com

      for Tom,

      my wonderful partner

      for the last 40 years

      of this long, strange trip

      Acknowledgments

      Awful Awakenings after Knee Surgery was originally published in

      District Lit (online, July 2017)

      Dynasties was originally published in Hurricane Review 1 (2007).

      The Elephant to the Blind Men was originally published in Off the

      Coast (Fall 2010).

      Future Past was originally published in California Quarterly 43:3

      (2017).

      Hell’s Kitchen was originally published in The Rambler (Sept./Oct.

      2007).

      Late Autumn Prayer was originally published in Lalitamba 3 (June

      2009).

      Modern Poetry was originally published in Plainsongs (Spring

      2013).

      Spring Peepers was originally published in Third Wednesday

      (Spring 2012).

      Prelude to the Sixties will be published as 1959ff. in Trajectory

      (2018).

      Totem, a shorter version of Totem at Nightfall, was originally

      published in Brick Street Poetry’s Words & Other Wild Things (2016).

      Visions of Geezer Rock was originally published in Tipton Poetry

      Journal (Winter 2008).

      The Wench Replies was originally published in Pinyon (Spring

      2013).

      Woodstock Revisited was originally published in Edison Literary

      Review 12 (Fall 2013).

      I.  The Sixties

      Prelude to the Sixties

      Baby-Boom begetters spread to the ‘burbs:

      land was plentiful and all night crickets sang

      a duet with cicadas in the trees.

      A whippoorwill sang in the woods behind our house at

      dusk.

      Veterans rewarded themselves with the American Dream

      and VHA housing—wasn’t that what they’d fought for?

      Green lawns with hedges and white picket fences.

      Ours was an ugly gray metal fence, surrounding

      crabgrass.

      Cigarettes and beer and bowling and barbeques every

      weekend,

      a TV in every home, a car in every drive, and 2.5

      children.

      Like-minded people in look-alike houses on every side

      and steak once a week.

      Also liver on Tuesdays and pale mushy vegetables from

      cans.

      What could go wrong?

      The women noticed it first—

      the creeping boredom, the lack of purpose,

      the emptiness of errands and childcare and soul-less

      churches.

      How could they stand all that domestic labor all day every

      day?

      The blame put on them for not being sexy enough if their

      husbands wandered,

      the unrelenting petty jealousies of keeping up with the

      Joneses.

      The ennui, gilded with stress, spread and birthed silent

      suburban crises.

      Every neighborhood was Peyton Place, and no one trusted

      anyone else.

      Earline stole

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