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Oh, to Ride Shotgun
Ida Marie Beck

into the promised land,
thighs against vinyl,

in a rusty Volaré
threatening to overheat.

To let his graceful
hands guide you

across the Sierra
through flaxen hills

where oleander garlands
burst in bubblegum

colors from the freeway’s
concrete soil.

To cup your eyes against
the brilliant Pacific

at journey’s end,
his arm ‘round your waist,

on a future-wide avenue
lined with palm trees

reaching for a pure
forget-me-not sky.

—
Ida Marie Beck is a scientist with a poet’s heart. A native of Denmark, trained in quantum chemistry, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her poetry has recently appeared in California Quarterly, Halfway Down the Stairs, Black Fox Literary Magazine, and elsewhere.

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