Soda fountain memory..

 

Today we are invited to write using some of the many styles of poetry, forms and various tools and  incorporating them into one poem..since I arrived late on the scene at dversepoets.com I have worked on only a few.  This I had already written for Valentine's Day and thought it might do as it is more prose, story, a rhyme or two, colloquial.

Driving the Coca Cola truck was a job he loved..
uP/ D
        o
         w
           n   ramps ..loading - unloading crates..
shipping bills - inventory - neon signs as gifts..
people made the day go around..not the clock
ESPECIALLY,  when he delivered to Woolworth's general store
in San Diego..







..he timed his arrival to coincide
with her coffee breaks ..(after the ice was broken)
She was a tall brunette with a shy smile..
her demeanor  made him feel at ease..
She worked behind the counter at the soda fountain
most days, on her feet all day,  with
her nose in a book when she had the chance..Friendly to all,
she made lifelong friends wherever she went..
He wore a white cap, pushed back on his head,
pushed a hand cart
to wield heavy loads  (and us)..

His laugh was deep yet soft; he was respectful and polite and
she said 'yes' when he asked her for a date
They went square dancing regularly
He kept his beat up Chevy well tuned
.... ordered a fudge sundaes...
she was partial to a 7UP float
with vanilla bean ice cream..
They double dated with friends..he wooed her with HUGE
glittery Valentines and birthday cards..
always signed them "All my love, Eddie"
For many years they both worked hard, he at the lumber mill,
then driving trucks delivering pop and beer..she at the shipyard during the war, the cannery,
and the post office..
Many happy years and many friends later,

After 60 years, she had boxes of his saved cards
They had a wonderful old craftsman home once,
where I remember chickens, a cow, a porch swing, and
the moon.. a dog named Butch. my teddy bear...
But there were many locations as they were like nomads moving
many times between WA. Ore. & CA.. always with my great granny in tow..
I was his first grandchild and I loved him so much.
He rolled his own..smoked until he had cancer at age 86..
I visited him in
the nursing home.
I told him that he looked more handsome every day...
and he winked and smiled back at me the same familiar way ;-)
Grandma live another 12 years..
I never doubted their love for each other,
How they missed one another when he was on the road all those years,
but she would sit on his lap and hold his face in her hands
and they would talk for hours and hours.....
I'll never forget them and all the memories..