Friday, August 29, 2014

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" by Joyce Carol Oates (1966) and Dickinson

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" by Joyce Carol Oates (1966)

She spent three hours with him, at the restaurant where they ate hamburgers and drank Cokes in wax cups that were always sweating, and then down an alley a mile or so away, and when he left her off at five to eleven only the movie house was still open at the plaza. Her girl friend was there, talking with a boy. When Connie came up, the two girls smiled at each other and Connie said, "How was the movie?" and the girl said, "You should know." They rode off with the girl's father, sleepy and pleased, and Connie couldn't help but look back at the darkened shopping plaza with its big empty parking lot and its signs that were faded and ghostly now, and over at the drive-in restaurant where cars were still circling tirelessly. She couldn't hear the music at this distance.

"This World is not Conclusion." Emily Dickinson

No comments:

Post a Comment