Читать книгу Dancing at Lake Montebello - Lynne Viti - Страница 11

Parrot Jungle

A lizard darted up the screen.

I left my doll, half-naked, outside on the lawn.

The plastic wading pool wore inflatable yellow rings.

I wouldn’t wear the bathing suit top, only the ruched shorts.

There were no children to play with.

My parents smoked and drank beer in the shade.

One night they went to the races —

I don’t know who stayed with me.

We drove to a place where giant parrots in bold feathered coats

were brought to us so we’d hold them on our arms.

My mother was game —

I watched the birds perch on her pale forearms.

I stood behind my father, clung to his Miami jacket.

Pink flamingos walked around a lake.

It looked like a picture book, but larger, in motion.

My mother laughed. Don’t worry, they’re tame.

At night I lay in bed and heard the grown-ups talking,

low voices of the men punctuated by my mother’s laughter.

She was with her girlhood friend, Lucille.

Tobacco smoke drifted in from where they sat outside.

The night was full of the sound of ice rattling in cocktail glasses.

My brown-skinned baby doll lay abandoned by the palm tree.

I dreamed of lizards racing across the cracked pavement

to the underside of the bungalow, cool and dark as a starless sky.