Park Avenue

Park Avenue

By Diana Raab

Why is it that men
always watch me park
as if they want to run over
and say ‘lady look what you did’
thinking I’d crash, but never have.

My dad taught me to park
tightly in New York
and I’m good, but those guys
want to say ‘just like a woman driver.’

Then I yell out ‘damn it don’t stare’
you asshole, you get me nervous,
do something productive with your time,
plus why are you sitting on the park benches
facing the street in front of my office
as your older wives shop in the stores
buying nothing, yet trying on things
which rarely fit like years ago.

They are my age now and looking back
at the styles and memories
which are now history
but like fire hydrants
pop up again randomly
when we least expect it.

Editor’s Note: While doing some research on a Mary Oliver poem, I came across an article about Mary Oliver by Diana Raab. The piece caught my interest; I think it was because of the title which was, “Mary Oliver Changed My Life,” and also that she said she can relate to Broken, Unbroken (by Mary Oliver) because her mother was a narcissist. I really liked her point of view!

At any rate, she was commenting about how Mary Oliver said she always carried a notepad so she could write down her thoughts when they "erupted." Raab agrees that is a good practice, and this poem was written after parallel parking across the street from her writing studio. She said she submitted it for publication as a "lark" when the co-writers in her writers' group roared when she read it aloud. And it was published. I found it rip-roaring funny and knew right then that I would have to share it on Hummingbird, and here it is.

Diana Raab, PhD is an author, poet, teacher, and speaker. More about Diana Raab at a later date!