Soda Fountain Ghost-Dream

it's a cherry phosphate, old fashioned soda fountain
kind of day I thought to myself
in an out of the way place

down a side lane
no one paid much attention to these days;
so it all came back to me.

the generous scoops of ice cream
in the malteds, the stools of green leather
we used to twirl on,

our feet never touching the floor.
coke floats, rootbeer floats, the
world's largest banana splits

and fudge sauce
over all of this.
(don't forget the maraschinos

and the whipped cream...)

mary angela douglas 5 may 2016