Geoffrey Stays at the Lonesome Pine Motel

 Geoffrey Stays at the Lonesome Pine Motel

 

Geoffrey stays at the Lonesome Pine Motel

on Route 18,

a few miles west of nowhere.

He spent a night here

an unknown time ago.

 

He stays at the Lonesome Pine Motel

to read the newspapers from 1942

he knows are buried

underneath the faded wallpaper.

Copies of the Waco Press,

Albuquerque News, and

The Manchester Guardian.

 

He finds comfort

reading the 48 point headlines,

the predictable predictions,

generic horoscopes,

and the advice to worn-out lovers

from someone even more

in need of affection.

But what he is really looking for,

even on the back pages,

Is any news confirming his birth.

 

But,

as before,

he finds nothing,

and busies himself

unwrapping

a fast-food burrito.

Geoffrey Sees A Red-Haired Woman

 Geoffrey Sees A Red-Haired Woman

Geoffrey was somewhere west of Spokane,

hitch-hiking,

almost asleep,

when a Pontiac Firebird,

traveling in the opposite direction,

caught his attention.

The woman behind the wheel

had long, reddish-brown hair,

and a fair complexion.

She reminded him of someone

someone he once knew.

She was wearing a billowing red scarf,

but there was no way he could

tell her of Isadora Duncan.

And perhaps,

just perhaps,

he had been mistaken.