Terri L. French
Observations while sitting at an extremely long red light in Corinth, MS
An elderly woman pushes the door of the White Trolley Cafe open with her ample behind. Her tight gray bun like a kitten snoozing on top of her head. Balancing two styrofoam containers in one hand she gingerly slides into the driver’s side of her silver Toyota Camry, sticking a chicken leg in her mouth before driving away. In the strip mall adjacent to the cafe is the Hair Queen—Beauty & Wig Shop. A mannequin in front of the wig shop sports a Dolly Parton hairdo and a turquoise sequined mini-skirt. A toe-headed little boy exiting the shop with his mother stops to take a peak up the mannequin’s skirt and is jerked away by mom before he can see whether or not Dolly is wearing panties. Next to the Hair Queen two cop cars are parked in front of Smokeez Cannibus. A young, scrawny shirtless kid is sitting on the bumper of one of the cars. His greasy hair hangs in his face. When one of the cops tries to take the boy by the arm to put him into the backseat of the squad car he makes a run for it, knocking over and sprawling on top of the mannequin. Dolly is, in fact, not wearing panties.
semi-hauler
a JOLENE license plate
smudged with dirt
About the Author
Terri L. French is a poet/writer and retired massage therapist. For the past four and a half years, she and her husband, Ray, have enjoyed the nomadic life of full-time RVers and are now building their forever home on a mountain in Huntsville, Alabama. Her newest book of haibun is kaleidoscope dream (Red Moon Press).