The Swing
by John Ronan
In a squared-away, flyover state
A rapt grandmother stares
At a barroom, stars surrounded by young,
Changeable patrons, beautiful, urbane.
“Wait,” she says to the child, “wait.”
The girl, who’s just seven, is bored
By the low-res, the dialogue, adults.
“There. Laughing. By the gorgeous guy.”
The four celebrity seconds end with a cut
To Sam and Diane, a slow fade to black.
“Gran?”
“Yes?”
“Really?”
“Oh, yes.”
From the prairie-facing porch they watch
The yard darken, the county blacktop,
Acres of field corn. The woman’s
Thinking of Los Feliz, a studio on Talmadge,
Boxed wine and pizza, over and over toasts
Of “Cheers!” “Cheers!” Fame of sorts.
The kid, who’s quick, kicks out,
Pumping the swing, back and forth.
“Gran?”
BIO
John Ronan is a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow in Poetry, a former Ucross Fellow, Bread Loaf Scholar, and Poet Laureate of Gloucester, MA. His book Marrowbone Lane (Backwaters/University of Nebraska, 2010) was a Highly Recommended selection of the Boston Authors Club. That book was followed by Taking the Train of Singularity South from Midtown (Backwaters/University of Nebraska, 2017). His newest book, The Idea of Light, came out in June 2025. Linda Pastan called his work “Very good indeed: original, assured, just a touch sardonic.” Poems have appeared in Times Literary Supplement, Main Street Rag, Woven Tale, Thrush, Confrontation, Folio, Threepenny Review, The Recorder, Hollins Critic, New England Review, Southern Poetry Review, Louisville Review, Greensboro Review, Notre Dame Review, NYQ, et. al.
