Page 49 - Contrast2004

Taxi Driver

In my yellow checkerboard flash
Pine tree air fresheners swinging furiously
a medley of pine lavender melon tickles my nose
just slightly covering the undertones of puke and cheap beer

A white-gloved hand catches my eye like a firefly on a
dark summer night

waving as if still seated on the homecoming court
She sits, gently fanning her silk and chiffon
into a perfect circle around her, carefully covering cigarette burns
A cool draft follows her in
Her face in the rearview
cracked and caked in make-up like elephant skin rolled in dust
She gives a phony smile as if people are watching us
and it is wrong to even acknowledge me
then turns her head towards the window and to her I disappear
I block out her raised nose and tightened lips as a dissatisfied

sigh escapes her mouth

I feel the vein rise in my forehead
I grip the wheel tightly and the seams dig deeply into my palms
Don't lose it now
the mounds of bills swarm
in my mind like angry bees
as I allow a phony smile to cross my face.

-Whitney Waters

The Awakening 47