First Apartment
Ellen M. Taylor
The glass door to the left of F.A. Gray’s Paint display led to apartments
over the store. Ours was on the second floor, a studio with wall-to-wall
industrial gray carpet, peach kitchenette, gas stationesque bath with leaky
shower. That summer, we waited on tables, Dee and I, ate Ramen noodles,
drank White Russians, smoked on the roof. We rode our bikes to the beach,
browned our skin with Bain de Soleil spray, streaked our hair with lemon
juice. There was only rent to pay, which we counted in cash from lunch
and dinner tips. Easy money. There were no boyfriends that summer,
and when it was over, we went our separate ways -- me to college,
Dee to the city – and we lost touch. But I think of that summer when I smell
the spray of tanning oil, and sometimes, when I look over F.A. Gray’s,
I wonder who lives there now, are they young and brash, do they pay in cash?
The glass door to the left of F.A. Gray’s Paint display led to apartments
over the store. Ours was on the second floor, a studio with wall-to-wall
industrial gray carpet, peach kitchenette, gas stationesque bath with leaky
shower. That summer, we waited on tables, Dee and I, ate Ramen noodles,
drank White Russians, smoked on the roof. We rode our bikes to the beach,
browned our skin with Bain de Soleil spray, streaked our hair with lemon
juice. There was only rent to pay, which we counted in cash from lunch
and dinner tips. Easy money. There were no boyfriends that summer,
and when it was over, we went our separate ways -- me to college,
Dee to the city – and we lost touch. But I think of that summer when I smell
the spray of tanning oil, and sometimes, when I look over F.A. Gray’s,
I wonder who lives there now, are they young and brash, do they pay in cash?
Working notes
I’ve started a series of revisiting places where I’ve lived, and exploring those spaces in prose poems. For me, they are like little rooms, portals into the past. The title acts as a door, and the imagery and internal rhyme serve as furniture for this little study.
About the author
Ellen M. Taylor’s work has been published in a number of local and national journals including TRIVIA, North American Review, Passages North, Connecticut River Review, New England Review, Off the Coast, and others. She teaches literature, writing, and women’s studies at the University of Maine at Augusta. She lives in mid-coast Maine with her partner, golden retriever, and Morgan filly.
For an updated list of works published in TRIVIA, please see this author's contributor page.
For an updated list of works published in TRIVIA, please see this author's contributor page.