One Eye Open & Driving
One eye open, the other still sleeping
yoga between beds, reach up, wake up
curtains drawn, passersby pass by
sky blue and wide, Texas style
pumping gas, a cow braying in a trailer
miles and miles of wind mills
a dry treeless main street town
Post Texas library with no bathrooms
love of the word, pee in MacDonalds
no such thing as decaf, a donut
from Donut Depot for Maureen,
all of a sudden Lubbock &
a scruffy guy with a cigarette
dangling lays down his bike
and snaps us beside Buddy Holly’s
glasses, sun in my eyes, hello
from Cricket Street to Broadway,
urban coffee decaf and Tumeric Latte,
then off we go tracing the wires,
along US 84W, listening to Arthur Blythe
remembering entering Alvin’s Finer
under Blythe sound with Allen
& with Detroit friends, flat flat
land in 4 directions, finally hot,
in theTimes read out loud
about prisoners in Brooklyn,
without heat, zero degrees, banging
on the walls & we’re 26 miles to Clovis
and Mexican food at Leal’s,
just a hop skip & jump to our beds
(Barbara)
For Patrick Happy Birthday!
Feb 4th 2019
Left the very fine Microtel Inn in Sweetwater, TX , headed for Clovis, NM. Driving straight along beside acres and acres of graceful and elegant wind turbines, we looked for a town with a coffee shop. In Slaton we found Donut Depot, but no coffee or tea after 11:30 a.m. And definitely no decaf. I’m finding Texas does not do decaf. No decaf lattes. When I ask for decaf they seem to question my sanity. Like why are you drinking coffee if you don’t want caffeine?
We went off route in Lubbock to see the Buddy Holly Museum/Center where a giant replica of his glasses sets out front. Being Monday the museum was closed, but we delighted in posing beside the dark geeky frames. A man on a bicycle came by so we asked him to take our photo. He mentioned that Sunday, Feb 3rd, the day before, was a gala 60thanniversary for BH at the museum. Sigh, had we only come a day earlier, but it was great to be there now. BH was and still is my favorite rock n roll singer.
In Lubbock we found a perfect coffee shop and, of course, no decaf lattes. But they did have decaf coffee, so I had steamed milk with that. Lubbock had a lot of shuttered storefronts, boarded windows, abandoned shops. Rather surprising in a city with fabulous red brick streets.
We left Lubbock for Clovis through country sides dotted with little homesteads, scrubby trees, and solitary oil rigs on little farms. (Maureen)
(MO)
(BH)
(BH)
(MO)
Found inside a bible in Sweetwater Texas Microtel Hotel.
