James Bernstein |
HIGH SCHOOL |
And I remember...
The Clocks, most of all,
The Clocks. How could they
be so wrong?
And there was Benny who
got his finger stuck in a lock
And Angelo...Angelo who blew his
brains out in a car. One day.
And there was Betty, who never
came back...not from California.
Not after the baby was born
And there was chewing gum under the
desks and bubble gum on the floor and
apples in the cafeteria, and Edward,
Edward who went into the Army, and never
came back
And there were proms and parties and Sally’s
dress and Artie’s tight pants and yellow
stickers on book covers...
And Roger, Roger
who did not mean it, did not mean any harm.
But who ended up away anyway, his letters
still coming from the prison way down the road.
And there were boy-girl dates by the river and dates
in the backyard and rushes of water by the
ocean that split the ear and the sight of
Roberta in that bathing suit on the beach
at sunset. And her smile.
And there was Dr. Figilio, Dr. Figilio who
did math, sometimes at home at night, when
no one was watching. He thought. And no one
asked because no one wanted to know, not much
anyway.
And whatever happened to Phillip? That summer
after graduation, when we did not see him again.
And corn on the cob and hot dogs and baked beans
and fries and sodas and beer on the white-soaked
beach.
And icky pizza stains on shorts and shoes and beer
stains on tee shirts.
And the final bell of the
final year.
And now may I forget? Please?
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