Joyce Compton Brown
When Elvis Sang Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup’s Blues
We were enamel children then,
danced to teen angel’s bloody death,
wept oh Donna with Ritchie Valens,
sated our souls with vicarious kisses
from pretty boys humming on the radio.
That’s alright now Mama. We shifted
away from boys with ducktails
and never wore pink and black
nor moved with undulating hips.
Anyway you do. We were Dixie
Girls in circle skirts and certain
bounds. Those tracks pierced
the town center shining neon
and we did not wish to cross
into the darkness
of our parents’ hearts.
~
Joyce Compton Brown taught English at Gardner-Webb University for a number of years; she studied creative writing at Appalachian State University, Hindman Settlement School, and Wildacres. She has published in numerous journals: among the most recent or upcoming publications are Now and Then, Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, Kakalak, and Pine Song. Her chapbook is Bequest (Finishing Line Press, 2015).
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