NewVerse News publishes poetry dealing with current events. Most publications take months to read, select, and publish. But NewVerse News shares writers’ immediate reactions to political and social happenings. Yesterday they published my poem “The Supreme Court Justices Go to the Garage”, which was inspired by the much-celebrated legal decision upholding the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
It is dedicated to a courageous and talented friend, Erica P.
Read it here: newversenews.blogspot.com or below:
The Supreme Court Justices Go to the Garage
The blue work shirt.
The logo for City Motors
Then her name
The name which used to be Jim
embroidered over the left breast
The left breast which used to be flatter
The voice, which used to be deeper.
Oh, they teased, those other mechanics,
put tampons in the tool box.
wrote Jennifer in brake fluid|
under the lift, on the toilet mirror.
The garage owner, ticked off, weighing the trouble
yet knowing Jennifer was good,
better than good, reliable,
on time, quick to figure out
the rattle, the hum, the tinny sound that the
others missed.
Jennifer, not Jim. Now holding up her head.
Doing her job.
The shirt. The name. The breast. The voice.
A turn of the wrench, a law upheld.
