Login
|
Join PoetrySoup
Home
Submit Poems
Login
Sign Up
Member Home
My Poems
My Quotes
My Profile & Settings
My Inboxes
My Outboxes
Soup Mail
Contest Results/Status
Contests
Poems
Poets
Famous Poems
Famous Poets
Dictionary
Types of Poems
Quotes
Short Stories
Articles
Forum
Blogs
Poem of the Day
New Poems
Resources
Syllable Counter
Anthology
Grammar Check
Greeting Card Maker
Classifieds
Member Area
Member Home
My Profile and Settings
My Poems
My Quotes
My Short Stories
My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder
Soup Social
Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us
Member Poems
Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Random
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread
Member Poets
Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest
Famous Poems
Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100
Famous Poets
Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War
Poetry Resources
Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetics
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter
Email Poem
Your IP Address: 18.216.149.94
Your Email Address:
Required
Email Address Not Valid.
To Email Address:
Email Address Not Valid.
Required
Subject
Required
Personal Note:
Poem Title:
Poem
Sixty years have passed. No one knew how to spell its name. No one knew when it first opened. It was forever, like the infernal summer heat. It stands indelible at the end of my street, at the end of my episodic hippocampus. Everyone congregated at this cozy corner store, this neighborhood fount for stories, jokes, convenient food and cheap toys. There were only a few shoplifters, usually snarky boys slightly older than me. They were never caught. The guy behind the counter never caught anything he didn’t want to see. Perhaps the store’s namesake, he worked slavishly, anxiously alone. One frantic day, he spotted vomit on the floor. Bolting into the backroom, He returned with mop and pail only to find the mess entirely missing. Snickering, snarky boys hid their latex toy. A harmless prank, some would say. But somehow, in my tenth year I felt sorrow for the overworked man. Nothing ever changed. It all lingered like the infernal summer heat, the gripping stillness of eternal summer. This neurotransmitter of neighborly connections, This hub of gab and gossip, Home to my first financial transactions, Home to penny candy, bubblegum cards, and Mars bars. Home to grape soda, Twinkies, and Wonder Bread. No one knew how to spell its name. No one knew when it permanently closed. But the potent sugar-coated flashbacks have lengthened my life.
CAPTCHA Preview
Type the characters you see in the picture
Required