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This writing was accepted for publication in the 108 page perfect-bound ISSN# / ISBN# issue/book “At the Zoo” Down in the Dirt v210 (8/23)  Order the paperback book: 
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Buddy “L” Gas Station
Sterling Warner
Only Texico gasoline with Techron
ever filled Grandad’s Cadillac;
management rewarded such patronage
gave him a miniature scale model station
featuring a Fire Chief fuel dispensing tank.
He presented it to me on Christmas Eve.
Jubilant. Festive. Certain I’d spend days
& nights rolling plastic toy cars over its metal
surface & through the paper-thin tin garage
since he believed that’s what boys like to do....
I buried it in our basement in less than a year—
the precise hour I learned Grandad had died.
A half century later, I encountered
the antique service station hidden
behind a vintage soft water heater
covered in rippling salt crystal layers;
Removing deposits of sulfuric brine,
I exposed enamel walls red & green
protected by purple trim. Vivid. Pristine.
Untouched by time’s rapacious strokes—
while the same five decades creased my
face with wrinkles, randomly tattooing
arms & legs with liver spots, unravelling
cornerstones of vigor, aging like a lone
Fire Chief petrol pump, crimson paint chips
peeling & falling to its base coloring dust & dirt.
