Heat and Hullabaloo

by Natalie Cochran 

Prop open that skullcap and let me peer down into the prurient and the crazy.
We’re stretched out on southern grounds and rooftops,
wrapped up in makeshift blankets,
sky enveloped around us like a flipped over deep dish.
Your camera lens blinks like an eye,
claps with applause as it cements sights,
storing melee as memory:
brew house brouhahas, bacchic pontifications.
Memories amalgamate sleepy city-scene postcards.
Remember your tumble-down dodge that died when it hit puddles?
Or what about lying with the seats leaned back,
reclining on restricted runways,
exchanging powdered sugar smiles?
Soundtrack a swarm of jet engines buzzing like a beehive.
Who-knows-who vanishing into God-knows-where.
I didn’t care, as long as you were there to swallow me up.

Growing up in a military family, Natalie Cochran moved frequently, often landing in Southern territory of Louisiana, Alabama and Florida. Although her roots are stretched across the United States and Europe, she holds fast to her Southern heritage. She currently lives in Mobile and attends the University of South Alabama.