The All American Girl

She wears a baseball cap,
Tennis shoes and tight tan pants
While she cleans her home.
You know her face,
You’ve seen her in the supermarket.
But originally
She came from Italy,
Or was it France?
Maybe San Salvador?
I saw her face
Painted on a wall
In Pompeii.
I guess she could have
Come from anywhere
To become
The All American Girl.

Once I met her
On a moonlit night
And I saw her face
Against the stars.
She looked so young.
But I had met her
In Pompeii
And Alexandria.
She was a woman then,
And I in love.
But now she wears
A peaked cap
And has a pony tail.
Now she speaks
In ways
The North Americans use.
But I know it’s her
Smiling at me.
I knew it as I saw her
Framed by the stars,
Old as time,
Except that now
She is the All American Girl,
With an amazing butt,
And deep brown eyes.
The same dark eyes!

You must have seen her
In the Coke adverts?
That sparkling smile,
The complete female,
The latest version of woman,
Everything streamlined
And up to date.
But she is as old as time,
And is all women.
I saw her face in Herculaneum.
The All American Girl.

Copyright ©2002 Tony Crisp