Guinotte Wise: “I had a ’49 Ford in high school, primered, lowered, heads, carbs, pipes, etc. Very Rebel Without a Cause. But I did well in English class. And I liked poetry. That was 67 years ago. I never gave up writing and I acquired another ’49 Ford along the way, and it underwent a lot of changes, like me. But it got beautiful. I sold it this year, and as the new owner slowed at the corner, the (illegal) bluedot taillights flickered at me. I went in and wrote this poem.” (web)
“Locked Brakes on Blacktop” by Guinotte WisePosted by Rattle
Ekphrastic Challenge, October 2018: Editor’s Choice
Image: “Hanging Collage” by Courtney Carroll. “Locked Brakes on Blacktop” was written by Guinotte Wise for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, October 2018, and selected as the Editor’s Choice.
Comment from the editor, Timothy Green: “There’s something delightful in the contrast between the no-nonsense trucker and the surreal scene he’s witnessing, and something mesmerizing about the half-monologue’s voice. As often happens, it was the poem that I enjoyed more every time I returned to it. And the ending, where he spits out his tobacco but misses, is perfect.”
Guinotte Wise: “Rodeoing made me feel alive, alive-oh, as the Irish ballad goes. Then writing fiction and poetry became my arena. Same feeling. The more you put into it, the better you get, like anything else. Rejections are just flies on the windshield on the way to an acceptance, a ride to the buzzer.” (web)