Monday, August 25, 2008

God's not-so-subtle way of saying "lighten up, Holly"

orange cones, corn fields
HWY 53, Georgia
and I am stressed

this 2-lane piece of shit
road, but listen,
I am stressed

late to a meeting
don't know my way
small towns every 5 miles
and people going 20
I am stressed

pass some strangely dressed
scarecrows
then some more
that have matching t-shirts

a porch with a whole scare-family
a churchyard with a scare-congregation
pantyhose faces, plastic bucket heads
pinata heads, Mr. Potato Head heads

scare-business-crows in well-tailored suits
scare-cowboys on rearing scare-horses

scare-babies with onesies
scare-grannies with nice scarves around their necks

scare-people
on every spare piece of land

a whole field of scare-football-players,
in formation, on the 50-yard line
scare-fans in bleachers,
lined up along fences, hats tipped
scare-butts to the road

at this point I'm not only
flummoxed, I'm laughing so hard I
can't see the road


So you know, I couldn't make this up if I tried...it was a real place...they're trying to set the world record for most scarecrows in a town, or something?? The name of the town is Hoschton, GA
www.hoschtonfallfestival.com
It's quite surreal!

5 comments:

JKA said...

I’m forced to take a short break from the blogosphere as I get ready to go to school / teach. Uhg. I hope to be back soon. Thanks for the encouragement (I need it).

Anonymous said...

I find scarecrows terrifying, I'd have hated it there. You communicate the surreality well.

holly said...

Jarod, good luck with the teaching...I'm teaching 5 classes this semester, so I know the insanity! I'm sure I'll be slacking off on this side too...take care!

Anonymous said...

HA! HA! I'm a weirdo, because I would have loved this town. I've always wanted to travel down Route 66 to see the funky and weird roadside attractions. This sounds like so much fun.

Now we have something to add to the list of things to do when I visit you...HA! Culture? Poetry readings? Hell, no. I wanna drink beer and see the scarecrow town...ha!

I love your poem, and the title is really cool, too. It's good to take those moments to lighten up, huh? Thanks, Holly!

Anonymous said...

Yes scarecrows would make me want to sit on the side and eat black ice cream... Full of emotions down a long ride on the road I hate it when cars are slower than Christmas... My ice cream would melt and then I would look for an orange ;-)