"Kitten," he said to me,
"you are the worst kind of witless cow,"
adding, of course, the rest of the usual blandishments.
What he meant, translated from Jimbo-ese
and run through a blender filled with
fresh fruits and nectar, was
"You are the sweetest, most appealingly goofy lovebug
that anyone could ever meet, and I am delirious with joy
to know you are mine, my little millstone."
This is how I ended up on the beach, albeit the one
grandly known as the Salton Sea. Like Jimbo,
it is salty and ruined. Like him, it needs me.
There are locals here, and they eye me dubiously
but warm up and offer encouragements like
"Who the fuck are you? Are you stupid? Get lost."
They've made me feel right at home, they are so like my Jimbo.
I pick up a dead fish and wonder if I could save it.
Just some Evian and Aveeno could work wonders.
My Jimbo lies over the ocean; my Jimbo lies over the (Salton) Sea.
No wait, he's right here, dropping the butt of a Lucky Strike
onto the gray, contaminated sand. "Come home," he says.
He looks like a lost puppy wearing a days-old shirt
and is eating something he probably shouldn't.
I say, "Miss me, dontcha?" Jimbo squints. "Shut up."
(That's Jimbo-ese for "Yes, baby.")
Aw shucks and shiny silver dollars,
if that's not love, I don't know what is!
___________
for Word Garden Word List--Last Seen LeavingLast Seen Leaving
I find this one fascinating, Shay, full of a twisted charm yet also threaded with bright silver melancholy. I love the translations from that other stark language of what is actually said and the more nuanced meat of what is really there. How we tell ourselves what we want to hear. But truth is elusive and subjective and a lot like the Salton Sea, a place my late husband often told me of from his boyhood, and which suited him like it suits Jimbo. Fine work.
ReplyDeleteWow, this woman should meet the woman in my poem - though this one tells the story better, and truer. A fantastic capture of that kind of relationship. Fave line: "...the Salton Sea. Like Jimbo, it is salty and ruined. Like him, it needs me." Oh my goodness. Been there.
ReplyDeleteBetter (and funnier) double-speak than Orwell. And who better than you to make us laugh/cry at ruined people. "Like Jimbo,
ReplyDeleteit is salty and ruined. Like him, it needs me." is fantastic. If this isn't love...
That Jimbo is a keeper! What a smooth-tongued sweetheart. Plus, the added bonus of hitting the laundromat with his sweat-stained duds? Who could want anything more than this charmer? Rapture! Delight! I love the "salty and ruined" and the "Evian and Aveeno" lines...and, well, the whole brilliantly sarcastic thing, as it just kept getting funnier and funnier. You crack me up, Shay!
ReplyDeleteOh my! Sounds like a love-hate relationship to me! But I think I would steer clear!
ReplyDeleteFascinating poem - i love the line - "I pick up a dead fish and wonder if I could save it." - this sums up so much - there is a lot here !
ReplyDeleteA toxic relationship leavened by ... dead fish? Not all the Evian and Aveeno in the world could wipe the contamination off those shiny silver dollars! Something so painful about this poem, Shay, despite the levity.
ReplyDeleteI love the wry humour in this (though of course the underscoring emotion is no lost on me) and it reminds me of a film I just can't quite name. The dead fish stanza says so much about the girl's hopefulness in a love which is sadly doomed to end - or set to make a better woman of her. Great storytelling!
ReplyDelete"This is how I ended up on the beach, albeit the one
ReplyDeletegrandly known as the Salton Sea. Like Jimbo,
it is salty and ruined. Like him, it needs me."
I love the inconsistencies in this. So well done. Nothing like living through a toxic relationship, and coming out of it.