Poems - English Writing 3C Students - Gas Station
Edward Hopper, Gas, 1940, oil on canvas, Chicago Art Institute
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Gas Station
Out of a blue sedan,
he fiddles with the pump
and leans against the sombre metal,
bourbon on his breath,
grief muddying his footsteps.
The echo of cigarettes.
His skin hangs like a dressing gown;
her shadow aches under his eyelids.
Levis bunched around his waist;
new holes in his belt,
poked by a blunt nail.
Soon he will open the front gate,
trudge past the daffodils and calendulas,
and scuff his leather boots
on the brick path,
stitched with a lace of weeds.
The lock will click,
and the door will creak open.
He will unlace his boots
and unload his coat,
like a boneless body with woollen skin.
But now,
he drags himself past the fridge of ice-creams,
and the smiling magazines,
choosing white bread,
tomato sauce,
and a can of cauliflower soup.
Josie Summers