Gaia’s Men
Georgia Anne Banks Martin
The winds are high, the sun bright.
Near the service station door are parked
two white work trucks, both overloaded
with tillers, shovels and rakes,
the hood is up on one . . .no smoke. . .out of oil, I guess.
I hear a deep melodic voice, but pretend
I’ve heard nothing. Choosing, instead, to watch
the numbers on the pump climb higher,
twelve gallons–– $30.00––seven more gallons
before my tank will be full.
As I wait for the dull thump of the pump as it turns off
I hear the voice again, “Can I pump your gas for you?”
I turn to see two thin men, standing near the trucks.
They have pulled off their overalls,
but their faces are still dirt-smeared,
and their hair bound beneath baseball caps and rags.
All day they have cut furrows in the field just up the road.
I wonder, if Gaia has missed these times
when the men return to resume cutting
wayward roots out of her body,
smoothing lumps with their Hula Hoes,
leaving behind their offering of seeds, and fresh water.
Now, their toil complete, they flirt with Aphrodite,
hoping she will lead them to a warm
cleansing downpour,
hoping she will dry their bodies
with her long wheat colored hair.
Wrap her arms around their narrow waists
kiss their honey brown skin,
rub, and oil their aching muscles
allow them to rest heavy heads on her full breast.
Georgia Anne Banks Martin - Georgia Ann Banks-Martin was born in Lincoln Park, MI on Feb. 6, 1971. She
was raised on the southwest side of Detroit in the area known as Marion Park.
She attended Beard Elementary, Wilson Middle School, and Southwestern High.
However, she completed high school at Sidney Lanier in 1989 after relocating to
Montgomery, AL during the summer of 1988. She earned her BA in English,
Language Arts at Huntingdon College, Montgomery, AL (1997) and her M.F.A.
(Poetry) at Queens University of Charlotte, located in Charlotte, NC (2009).
Currently she is pursuing a Ph.D. in Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate
Institute, Carpentaria, CA
-
Address: Georgia Ann Banks-Martin
2226 Palmetto Street
Montgomery, AL 36107
georgiabanksmartin@yahoo.com
Web: georgiabanksmartin.com
