"Two for the Montrose Drive-In"
finished the cake), a soggy lemon
crescent lolling in the red bottom
of the drained punch bowl,
and the house a mess. We ate like kings for days.
2. Charlton Heston's Holy Rags
Our lucky man puts in his first appearance.
We cheer, ski the front seat's vinyl
into the plushy pit beneath the dash.
Just as sure as we're missing the chalky mints
discretely placed between the moistened lips
of the Reverend Sisters of the Eastern Star,
he'll save us from plopping frogs or locusts,
clouds of hissing told-you-sos
invading bed or pajama cuff.
This time around, though, he's neither
good nor wise: He tromps palatial corridors,
a smooth-cheeked boy in Roman bronze,
all greed and good looks.
No green smoke wiggling over a host of snakes
ready to be turned into walking sticks;
instead, he lifts his hand and an urn,
kicked, stutters across the tiles:
The car speaker crackles scorn.
What brand of righteousness is this? Squeamish,
we stuff our mouths with more buttered corn
and count the things gone wrong—
there's a sister rotting away in a cave,
too many sweaty people being whipped,
that skinny stranger's burning gaze ...
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Former U.S. poet laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Rita Dove received the 2011 National Medal of Arts from President Obama. Her latest book publications are Sonata Mulattica and The Penguin Anthology of 20th-Century American Poetry.
For Slate's poetry submission guidelines, click spacerhereyeshyperlinkPoetry SubmissionsSlate reads new poems from Oct. 1 to April 30. Manuscripts sent between May 1 and Sept. 30 will not be considered.To submit poems: Send, as a single attached document, up to three poems of no more than 50 lines each to editors@slatepoems.com. Use the poet's name for the subject line of the e-mail and for the title of the attachment. We prefer Word documents (.doc or .docx) to PDFs.Please include a brief, professional cover letter, including publication history, in the body of your email. Please limit submissions to one per poet per annual reading period. Simultaneous submissions are OK. Slate no longer accepts poetry submissions by mail. The email address editors@slatepoems.com is for poetry submissions only (or to notify editors of acceptance elsewhere of a poem under consideration at Slate). Other inquiries, etc., will not be addressed.10000false220061444537PMWednesdayJanJanuary161/4/2006 9:45:37 PM63271989937000000020061444537PMWednesdayJanJanuary161/4/2006 9:45:37 PM632719899370000000.Clickhere to visit Robert Pinsky's Favorite Poem Project site.