Renting a VCR in 1989

we didn’t have our own
the only copy
of bill & ted’s excellent adventure
was always out

& i was still too young
to alter the course of history

not yet lovesick
for pale girls
chanting nirvana anthems
drinking wine coolers
in the suburban garages
of my youth

sitting there indian style
with unsalted popcorn on a paper towel
on a green shag carpet
that never looked clean
no matter how many times
you tried to scrub the memories out

i spent my saturday nights
watching cronenberg
& hal hartley’s
loveletters to long island outsiders
feeling just as weird & out of place
as i was supposed to
waiting on the future.

John Dorsey lived for several years in Toledo, Ohio. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including Teaching the Dead to Sing: The Outlaw's Prayer (Rose of Sharon Press, 2006), Sodomy is a City in New Jersey (American Mettle Books, 2010), Tombstone Factory, (Epic Rites Press, 2013), Appalachian Frankenstein (GTK Press, 2015) Being the Fire (Tangerine Press, 2016) and Shoot the Messenger (Red Flag Poetry, 2017),Your Daughter's Country (Blue Horse Press, 2019), and Which Way to the River: Selected Poems 2016-2020 (OAC Books, 2020). His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and the Stanley Hanks Memorial Poetry Prize. He was the winner of the 2019 Terri Award given out at the Poetry Rendezvous. He may be reached at archerevans@yahoo.com.