The Archies
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KATE EVANS

 

Appeared in Reed, 2003.

 

1/ Flicker between here and there,

 

Riverdale, sidewalk beneath your feet,
no hills, easy walking. In minutes you’re across town,
no matter the weather.

 

2/ Veronica’s Hubris

 

Veronica’s chic midi dress:
Betty’s mini is embarrassingly out of fashion.
But the boys trump Veronica’s fashion prowess.
They like minis.
Betty walks off with the boys into timeless blue sky.
Veronica is deflated
but her breasts stand out in indignation.


3/ Turn the pages, 

 

look into their immortal eyes.
Learn a new word (Veronica
is ecstatic about a new outfit)
walk the flat streets
(it’s a tidy neighborhood
where everything connects),detect love (or is it more?)
when their eyes
are hearts.

4/ Archie’s Faux Paux

 

Archie has a date with Veronica.
Sometimes he dates Betty
or unnamed girls.

 

Veronica heard Archie has new wheels.
She dresses and fixes her hair.
In one of the few night scenes,
yellow stars pricking the black sky,
Archie picks up Veronica.

On a motorcycle.

 

Last panel: Veronica furious, her hair mussed, in a side car,
Archie’s face red.

 

He can never do enough for her.

 

5/ Brown and orange leaves

 

bigger than hands drift from one panel to the next.
Time to go back to school again.

 

Leaves and letterman sweaters
in fall. Snow and ski clothes
in winter. Tulips and spaghetti straps
in spring. Bathing suits and water skis
in summer.

 

How else to know the season?
 
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