the front porch evening show

she came from behind the imaginary front door
with her long blond hair recently washed
and one very broken down front tooth;
she offered me a sip of her southern vermouth
and a half-smoked cigarette
(which i took
as she stood uneasily and shook)
but if that was all i would get
i'd be leaving with such heavy regret
that i couldn’t tell the good old boys
but on her old Magnavox radio i heard a new commercial for a Ford
and although she acted bored
with my small talk and over-eager smile
i asked in my Texas drawl if we could walk a mile
for a camel? or perhaps take a slow ride in my Chevrolet?
what'ya say? i asked her twice
as sweetly nice
as my dry tongue allowed:
she didn’t seem wowed,
so i had another idea; i asked about a friendly skinny dip in the barroom pool
heck, it's just around the street corner and not far away but she called me a fool
“You’re a fool!” she drew it out like a cat hissing
“I’m not!  What am I missing?”
well, broad suspenders holding up his loose pants, her dad just peeked
with his nose smashed against the dusty window
“See, even my dad thinks you’re a turd!"
“But I've said nothing he heard.”
and just to make amends, I handed her some spearmint gum
which she chewed all night long, “Yum!  Yum!”
“Hey, wanna read Lolita?”
“Shove off; do you take me for some cheap Señorita.”
but i heard her dad whisper he had read the book from first page to last page
like a tiger released from a morality cage
he enjoyed the old man part
said it touched his hidden heart
gave him a new start,
and he drank southern vermouth
with one very broken down front tooth
feeling down on his luck
but generously gave his daughter his last hard-earned buck
to buy her cigarettes and that old Magnavox radio
just so he could go
in his broad suspenders to watch the front porch evening show
with his nose pressed against the dusty window and his ear held to the wall
to relive all the memories he still could recall.