Uh-oh--another parody of a famous poem: this time it's James Wright's moody town portrait, "Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio." The truck stop in Ontario is real, as are the legions of hookers who take care of the drivers' desires. The girls' college pursuits are pure fantasy (though not impossible).

 

   Evening Begins in Ontario, California

        by Marc Pollitt

In Ontario's truckstop labyrinth,
I think of hookers making slow tours of diesel cabs,
And cold stares from drivers who have had their share of lovers,
And the nervous new plainclothes cops wearing heels,
Trolling for victims.

All the town elders are aghast at the tales.
Their voters bleat in feigned outrage,
Craving no change.

Ultimately,
The girls learn psychological theories
In the halls of Chaffey College,
And focus strategies to steal each other's tricks.

 

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©2001 by Marc Pollitt, all rights reserved