Song with Day Glo & Jelly

Tess Taylor | 85 Hulky & afloat on seas of parking the old Plaza dated from the fifties— sold Day Glo Ice & jelly shoes, new Sweet Valley High & sour candy. Our flock would flock to Woolworths, buy 99-­cent Wet & Wild to line our lips. We wandered home between the glaze of windshields. At McPhee’s, McPhee still measured feet & ordered in our red saltwater sandals. Someone got shot: McPhee died: I went to college. Later I learned how it all was covered streambed, The once-­ site of the Castro Hacienda. Before that: Ohlone, bear habitat, and tule. In the same spot, they built a new bad Plaza. Cars inch by Bed Bath & Beyond. Sometimes I dream up the old ranchero, live oak, monarch, poppies, bears. Sometimes I can hear the buried stream. Someone’s made a point of some remembrance: near the drive-­ thru bank, there is one tiny plaque. poetry Song with Day Glo & Jelly Tess Taylor ...