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| street art, Richmond, VA |
At the garage on Old Forest Rd,
getting an oil change & eighteen point
inspection of my cars performance,
me & one other guy sit in the waiting room
while mechanics vrrrt vrrrt vrrrt nuts off,
drain thick tongues
of oil, in orange buckets & screw
filters back in place.
I like this place, they don't lie (much) to pilfer
your pocket, it's quiet & the coffee is hot,
yet unburned
The guy has a Tampa Bay hat & I ask,
tell him I lived there the year
they won the Super Bowl.
He's been to the stadium but never a game
& after five minutes, we lapse into silence.
I read Bukowski & he sits staring forward,
content in knowing everything we need
about each other
until the over-alled man opens the door
& with a 'be good man'
we leave
relieved
to escape into cool morning sun
that shines with no expectations.
At dVerse Poets, it is OpenLinkNight, where I will be hosting but the verse will be provided by you & about 150 other pen wielding wind mill chasers. Write something poetic & come join us. I will open the doors at 3 pm EST.
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110 comments:
Haven't been around to visit in a while. Gosh, look at you go...so many followers!
Keep it up, sweetie.
I like how you can turn an every day event into something lyrical. Amazing!
Smiling. Sometimes men just want to " be " and have no expectations thrust upon them for the moment and that's ok. I think sitting in the service station waiting room is maybe enough male bonding, but then again, I'm not a man and don't always understand your ways of thinking. ;) ha ha ha...
Nice that two men can sit in relative silence, just being. I like how you can notice what most of us overlook and forget.
Your usual knack for turning over the rocks of the everyday to find what's under them fully on display here--and this time nothing nasty to crawl out, just the propinquity that fuels the fires. See you out on the trial for OLN.
Oh, my car went in for its annual check up this morning. Going to cost about 300 bucks but, I knew I needed new brakes, they were screeching high pitched enough to tell me so and, I was praying it wouldn't cost me much more. I think 300 bucks was getting off lightly. LOL
We do, do that with people don't we? Chat until it runs dry and then go back into our own world again :)
This all made me smile.
Going to pick mine up from the garage now. At least where it is I can walk home and walk back when it's ready.
Another perfect capture of an everyday moment, haven't we all been there, in that place, mostly cringing and impatient to get on with our day, our life?
You turned it into something more, something beautiful.
It was all you needed to say to each other...Now, if it had been two women...I'd still be reading about it ;-)
It was all you needed to say to each other...Now, if it had been two women...I'd still be reading about it ;-)
Lovely. That is very nice - of course, I like a lot of the beginning best - the screwing and the vrrting nuts off, but the end has a real sweetness. k.
I wish women would do more of this. I always hesitate when a strange woman starts chatting. My silence will interrupted if I am too friendly and I need a lot of silence. Men assume silence is just fine. Women, not so much :).
I love silence, perhaps I should have been a man...smiles.
Seems I always seem to strike up the most interestin' conversations in these places.
What a magnificent read Mr. Brian!
God bless ya and have an amazin' day!!! :o)
Some are content and happy not to be bothered. We would have to make adjustments in their presence,I gather!
Hank
Brilliant- man talk- often done in silence! how is we just communicate like that? is that we know in that 'unspoken' way- or becasue we feel like we cant- like it would somehow endanger our masculinity. Liked the Buk reference- he always wrote about work, the machine, human nature. Great close- 'leaving into a sun with no expectations'- maybe we are just made up that way- its funny when you look at yourself/analyse yourself....oh and i loved 'thick black tongues of oil' great description- could almost feel it!
Ah, you sized each other up and that was enough conversation. Women would have exchanged phone numbers!
i like much how you capture the scene here...for me esp. the closure has a strong bukowski feel as well...love the inclusion of sounds with the vrrrt... and the thick tongues of oil.. maybe you should've read one or two bukowski poems to him..smiles
Did you mean "ManTalk & other primitive forms of NONcommunication"?
Smiles!
Ah, that reminds me. I need to get my oil changed.
So that is what you guys talk about when you are getting the vrrrt vrrrt vrrrt nuts off treatment.
There is something raw and near poetic about waiting in an old garage sitting room isn't there?
We've all been there.
And it's not my favorite thing, even with a good book and a hot drink...
=)
Brian I love heard you, your poems and tales,though I dont use any car, I would talk you tales in the subway Lol
thanks Brian
Slice of life kind of post. Guys being guys.
You are showing me (us) that within each moment in our human existence is a story. We identify, because we've 'been there'. What most of us do NOT have is your ability to communicate those pictures in your head, Brian.
Wonderful insight!
tabor...you gave me the hardest laugh i have had in a while...smiles...
I guess it's a man thing...smiles...I love how you turn a simple everyday thing into poetry...shows that there IS poetry all around us. :)
simple, yet intriguing write... I'm horrid at small talk & very comfortable in silence... never know what to say. heheheh
...they don't lie (much) to pilfer your pocket...
Said with the wisdom of one who knows it's about the best we can ever expect from these places!
Haha, like Tabor I thought the discomfort might stem from the 'nuts off' noises. I once wrote a piece about being hugged three times by a service worker at the emissions testing place (clearly a more likely woman story) though it did make the man standing on the sidelines tear up a bit :). I really enjoyed hangin’ with the men here; so much real communication is nonverbal. Hope you feel better soon.
It doesn't take too much of a performance sometimes to play the role or roles we all play with friends, family, strangers. And sometimes, we just don't want that...we want to be just..well just we...I wanna be me...man talk, family talk, kid talk...Aw, shaddup...lemme be. Am I far off the mark?
Great how you find such a rich poem in an everyday situation like this. And how you capture the emotions of men in a car repair shop.
Yup - about says it all. Hope you gave him the stare-down look at least once, and of course the silent thirty degree slanting head-bob. Great stuff - I can see the whole scene!
Love the "vrrrt vrrrt vrrrt nuts off" line - I can really hear it in my mind. I'm always reading when I wait for my car at the auto shop; everyone else seems to be watching sad day-time TV.
Like this Brian.The forced connection between two strangers followed by an uncomfortable silence... Also n the opening stanzas did I detect a hint of garage machismo with the tongue, nuts, screw references or am I being vulgar? Just reminded me of the sexual undertone that exists in that kind of environment... I am of course talking Pirelli/Victoria Secret calendars hidden vaguely but not completely out of view! I've spent time around men in garages (husband worked in the trade for a while) so I talk from personal experience!!
It would never happen that way with two women. This was a great peek into the world of men. It also brought back memories of my dad because he was an auto mechanic. I remember hearing that vrrt vrrt sound at his shop when I was little. :) Peace, Linda
Great description of an everyday moment. The tongues of oil are an especially apt metaphor. (Always nervous when I go somewhere they vrrt vrrt nuts off. ;-) )
Love the part about the Buccaneers hat... love all the small little details. Your work reminds me that poetry is all around us, even in commonplace occurences. "Vrrrt vrrrt vrrrt" ... that sound has always stood out to me.
Interesting that though we live in twwo differeent parts of the country, we frequent the same places (with different addresses) and run into the same people (with different names). Another excellent write, Brian. And did I say, "Been there, done that"?
http://charleslmashburn.wordpress.com/2012/05/22/the-thunder-rolls/
This is so good. An auto-mechanics waiting room is one of my personal least-favorite places to hang out but you've given me something to watch for and observe next time. :0) I can almost smell that peculiar smell I associate with them.
i like this. i took a flight home yesterday and sat next to a guy and we seemed to do the bit of bantering in order to have know what we wanted that led to a genuine release in our goodbye. a small thing, but nonetheless satisfying. you can net moments so effortlessly. i see him, and you, clearly. i like the lightheartedness, reflected in the conversation itself, the plain spoken honesty in how he sits while you read, and the human dignity you naturally color the world with.
Silence can be very awkward but also very warm & comforting
Like Pat said--you have turned this ordinary event into something lyrical--This is so lovely!
OMG ... I love this,B ... exactly how I experience these "neat" places ... I usually leave slightly nauseated but feeling good ... at least my car is okay ...
Brian - you took an ordinary moment, a Polaroid, and turned it into a portrait of a captured piece of time! Amazing write my friend.
Hiya,
I try not to read other comments until I've written mine, but I'm sure everybody loves this poem. It is cosy, and comfy like a pair of well worn trainers which take you into wonderful streets on a run past that street art. I hope you have plenty of photographs left, or we'll have to send you back before it all gets rained off.
Another great poetical take on the motions of daily life.
I look at oil-changes as a boring chore, and you find the perfect moment to capture! Nicely penned, Brian!
You can take an ordinary moment and make it so special, Brian. I love the sounds throughout... the over-alled man and your quick departure.
P.S. Thanks again for the favor.
Brian, you have a gift in capturing everyday scenes of life that we all relate to. Good write :)
The vrrrrt vrrrt vrrrt! is such a great touch. That's exactly how I've always heard that sound. Takes me right into the mechanic's shop.
Can really feel that weird distance between two people temporarily sharing the same little patch of space. After an aborted attempt at conversation, both realize they have little in common and nothing to say. Always such a relief to escape the situation.
Take care to get a good rest tonight. Hope those bruises fade quickly.
Feel like I was sitting there watching you two.
Enjoyed this look into the mild discomfort and pedestrian depth of chance encounters -- and the onomatopoeia was dead on Brian, loved it, bravo...
…rob
Image & Verse
my poem: Laughing
I like how visual your words are including the vrrt sounds. There is comfort in knowing that space with someone else, no expectations, just to do what you to do ~
Hope you feel better ~
relieved
to escape into cool morning sun
that shines with no expectations...
an exitway of hope brian?
this stanza really opens up and out...funneling out toward fresh airs...
breathing out the smog and grease
and the clinging city and the hassels of it all
you took me in thru and out...NICE!
Excellent! You captured the halting, tentative nature of conversation between men who are strangers. If I saw you reading Bukowski it'd blown my mind. Men who are strangers talk about thing quantifiable. When they get to trust each other, then the real talk begins - which is why I like to read you - you're a man and a friend I can trust. Brother Mosk
Ha, yes, some of best convesations occur at aeroports, salons, trains, waiting rooms, car repair for sure. Excelllent job presenting common day as art.
Reminds me of my Dad and I...people observe us together and sometimes think that we aren't getting along, but we enjoy doing stuff together in relative silence. I think too many people feel it's necessary to fill every moment with chatter.
What a perfect capture of that slightly awkward sharing of space with a stranger. I love it.
I often feel a sense of unease in confined waiting areas with strangers. I imagine you being quite comfortable with the discomfort, especially with your book of Bukowski poems keeping you company :)
Another wonderfully painted picture.
This is so good, Brian. I could smell the oil.
Oh, you are so sweet to check on me. I just got back over the weekend and I'm trying to get back in the groove SLOWLY. Had a great trip but missed your lovely posts!
I love this, the simplicity of its story saying so much about how we are, not just as men, maybe, but human beings. I really enjoy poems that discuss ways of communication that occur without words. Whole conversations occur, if we just allow ourselves to listen to the silence.
Okay that was I, Charles Old account.
I've been in this moment as a woman of course and all the noises and how it can be at those moments...so virtual...so true ...:)
Nice! I love the ending in particular.
Have done my share of sitting in service station waiting rooms...
Brian, rockin bartender and king of onomatopoeia (vrrrt is one of the best I've seen), you once again take a simple task and turn it into an experience. So many waiting rooms, and often I will engage folks; usually, because I'm a woman (even at 55, this holds some sway for me), I get the whole family history!! And find out they have mental disorders in their families, too, and a gay cousin or some such! Amy
http://sharplittlepencil.com/2012/05/21/always-and-forever-ironweed-dammit/
I being real when I say, you have some creativity flowing through you. you just had me read short story about an oil change. Or are you just clever. (eyebrow up on one side)
http://leah-jamielynn.typepad.com
using typepad all week
So mindful.
I prefer the company of sunshine too - you can feel it, but don't really have to deal with it much, save for getting into the shade when it gets too awkward.
gotta love Bukowski
Sir Brian, you are truly an inspiration to me of how i can make my daily thoughts and experience form a poetry material..
JJRod'z
Making small talk is just about the most miserable thing to me.
I love this section:
"while mechanics vrrrt vrrrt vrrrt nuts off,
drain thick tongues
of oil, in orange buckets & screw
filters back in place"
Got the gawker powers at play
As you give the oil change a go at your bay
Such a mundane task
But that you mask
As you go about your verse
Filling the dVerse purse
Enjoyed your ordinary slice of life..the ending is so wonderful, Brian.
A great snapshot. :)
You find poetry whereever you go, don't you. How lovely to see the rhythm in the everyday.
You can turn anything into poetry.You're a magician with words.
I think that maybe just the right amount of small talk was made. I am not much for the small talk stuff. But I am a gear head so I might have been talking car stuff.
A perfect tableau to the thought of 'living in the moment', where the boundaries of existence remain well-defined and untested.
What a wonderful lyrical equation. I long to live in the last stanza... Thank you for that. :)
I like the "vrrrt" sound. Very accurate and vivid, as is the whole poem.
Cool...when the silence is comfortable between strangers. Nice how you weave the words of mundane into interesting.
Love the sound effect and the comfort of being together in silence
You captured this everyday scene so well. I like the "over-alled" man play on words. The ending is wonderful.
It's another brilliant capture of your life, and I feel so glad that I've had the opportunity to gaze this art. Keep your outstanding poetry coming, Brian.
Being comfortable in silence is brilliant. Some people just have to gabble nonstop or they are not comfortable!
Maggie X
Nuts in May
great job painting this moment. The last line brilliantly casts the reader into reflective mode, which you always do a great job keeping your work alive past the final word and/or punctuation. I used to go to this lube place in town here and they used to let you stand right out there and watch the mechanics go at it with the car, but as everything it seems in this state, legislation stopped that and now you have to sit in this enclosed waiting room that doesn't get cell access and where the coffee is much worse than drinking the oil being changed. Again, great job. Thanks
I love this and the pic is great too.
You take the small everyday things of life and make poetry!
This is the way it should be to me,...nothing 'lofty' but a celebration of life and living....and strangers we meet for a few moments.
Lady Nyo
Yep...that pretty much covers the kind of communication one has in one of these places. Kind of non-verbal. Ha!!!
Hugs
SueAnn
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This has the smack of authenticity and garage realism - a genre all by itself. It also gives the uncomfortable feeling that someone's been robbing my memory bank - a garage realist magician, no doubt.
Taken on a Polaroid posted on Instagram ...
been there...love how you write about everyday things and they get us thinking!
Guy talk.. I never really git it.. I can put it on for a while.. but it's not that convincing and it bores me so much.. except tech. I can talk tech all day. Bore a woman's tits off with MacBook this and iPhone that. I like your
vrrrt vrrrt vrrrt nuts (I'm not hitting on ya, don't worry)
It's so much easier with guys!
This is one of the reasons I loved working in an office of ten engineers and me the lone female. No drama. No gossip. Just fun. Thanks for hosting. Finally home again (Waterford, VA) and linked up for the first time.
Tina @ Life is Good
it is nice to be simply nice..and that being the only reason.
A brilliantly well observed piece Brian. It details with remarkable precision those brief encounters occasioned by chance meetings. Loved it.
concluding line r fabulous
# cool morning sun
that shines with no expectations.
lil moments u capture r the best part of your writing.. missed it..
How u doing Brian ?
Great street art. I really like this one.
ooh that's so good Brian. You really nailed that claustrophobic proximity.
Good onomatopoeia... Love "thick tongues of oil," great image. Henceforth you shall be "Brian, that guy who reads Bukowski."
Thought I posted this:
'Have spent my share of time in auto service stations.'
Either eBlogger is as slow & unreliable as I think or, BIG OR, it's just the vrrrting nut around the bolt, clicking the wrong clickers.
Trying again to get this eBlogger not to leave this, your loyal follower, out...
"content in knowing everything we need about each other"
That about sums up the waiting room experience.
Love those simple moments that you capture Brian
Brian, what I admire about your poetry is the fact your poems deal in the concrete rather than the abstract. You inspire me with your poetry and am chalenge to explore that style. Great poem. Love the simplicity of it.
Brian! This sounds like a very intimate experience. I burst into chortles at "vrrrt vrrrt vrrrt nuts off, drain thick tongues of oil, in orange buckets & screw"
Vivid and such a pleasure to read. :)
It was sheer pleasure to read this...
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