My Lost Generation
When the dial phone vanished, so did Arlene.
Mary Lou took off after Mai Tais went out.
Without leis, rattan, and almond syrup, she lost
her desire to live. Because of the rumored death
of the pencil, Margo moved to Browning,
Montana. The market bottomed, so Winslow
relocated to a treehouse. Each day he wheels up
bagels and cream cheese and dumps his trash
on the lawn. Because department stores quit
selling half slips, Delphine took a train
to Terre Haute. The last onionskin, Wite-Out,
and carbon paper led to the last of Miss Rossiter,
said to be reading palms in LA. Tom took a bus
to Topeka after his Mustang was lifted from
cinderblocks and he and it were written off.
When the word spinster fell from the language,
Lorilla walked into the hills. Touch dancing
came back, and Will disappeared to search
for his dancing shoes. Myra is sobbing
in a dusty museum, a dodo eyeing her
balefully. In her personal hovercraft
Jeanine crosses sandbanks and rubble. She
cruises wastewoods where wind empties trees.
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