woman in a white blouse

woman in a white blouse, originally uploaded by TedSher.

Seven snowmen and a banana peel in a Ford pickup

Magnificent Seven and a banana peel in a Ford pickup, originally uploaded by TedSher.

November, 1967
By Joyce Sutphen

"November, 1967" by Joyce Sutphen, from First Words. © Red Dragonfly Press, 2010.

Dr. Zhivago was playing at the Paramount
Theater in St. Cloud. That afternoon,
we went into Russia,

and when we came out, the snow
was falling—the same snow
that fell in Moscow.

The sky had turned black velvet.
We'd been through the Revolution
and the frozen winters.

In the Chevy, we waited for the heater
to melt ice on the windshield,
clapping our hands to keep warm.

On the highway, these two things:
a song from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
and that semi-truck careening by.

Now I travel through the dark without you
and sometimes I turn up the radio, hopeful
the way you were, no matter what.

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME ends tonight.

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME ends tonight., originally uploaded by TedSher.

My son Eric made this etching about 30 years ago when he was 10 years old. Today I took it to Hollenhorst Framing in St. Cloud to have it properly mounted. Note that drawings on etchings come out reversed when printed. The glasses are those of the framer, Randall Hollenhorst. Tonight Eric called from Minneapolis to remind me to set our clocks back one hour tonight.