Duties as a Young Person

Poetry

Photo by author.

The historical leash of
your hometown comes
punctuated with
sentences of punishment.
The time at the dentist.
The drinking a mickey
of Southern Comfort,
shared with four others
did not have the
desired effect,
the name is much better
than the brew.
That year of 1812 overture
and the medley of
TV show themes,
including The Rockford Files,
as third horn
in the junior band.
My best friends played
the oboe and the flute.
One of them has
been dead almost as
long as she was alive.
I see in a young person
a clean face. Bright
with purpose and curiosity.
Something like a parent
might see and preserve?
I hope this boy is not
a sensitive plant.
That unforgiving grammar
makes you turn away.