Ode to the La Macina Macchina

By Jodelle Marx


She wears her wrinkles with middle of the road indifference

Curvy lanes and tight traffic

She is the star and director of this show

“Do not rush me” she says

If you turn the key too quickly

La Macchina left her “hurry up”

In the driveway of 1999

Cardboard tree tied to her air vent

Ashtray full of cigarette butts

Dome light taped to the ceiling

she has hip pain

Her paint is a well loved book

Seats worn like dogeared pages


She cruises through town with a cyclical squeak

Hip pain and clicking joints

That draw the appraising eyes

Of men who chat on their mother’s doorsteps

Exhaust pipe held to her lips

She puffs and rolls on.