Summer 1977

Lounging on the hood
of a ’71 Chrysler Newport
in the mall lot after hours.
Hair in Farah Fawcett wings
Striped tube top held up
by spaghetti straps
Bic lighter tucked in the pocket
of bleached bell-bottom blue jeans
pink platform Candy slides
& Virginia Slim Menthol Lights
waiting for the pin-striped
fire-engine red jacked up
’69 Ford Mustang.
Scent of Paco Rabanne Pour Homme
dark eyes black curls mustache & beard
Piney, slightly skunky grass
& Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill wine
pop in a cassette
hit rewind
then play.

Donna Wojnar Dzurilla’s poetry appeared in Kaleidoscope, The Pittsburgh Quarterly, The Bridge Literary Arts Journal, Backbone Mountain Review, Rune, and is anthologized in The Gulf Tower Forecasts Rain: Pittsburgh Poems, Tributariaand North Coast Voices. Her short story collection, Switchback and Other Stories was shortlisted for the 2025 C&R Press Fiction Award. Support for Dzurilla’s writing includes SAFTA 2025 Artist Residency and a 2025 ARPA Support for Artists Grant awarded by the City of Pittsburgh.