FALL/ WINTER 2012

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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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