the west view pennsylvania bandstand

and roller coaster are long gone
fast-forward k-mart bloated parking lot

leaving only the jive five

cry cry
their never ending love story
names changed to protect
you and i

adolescent roots
torn & stuck in dry broken clay
value judgments cotton candy
lost community
no hiding
shut-out living
flannel walls
wrapped & shredding
still gray

a rendezvous in black and white breaks for the highway
an escape
on a secret hazy layer of early summer
right after school let out
between camelot and the napalm fires
to come
lovers
too innocent for anything more
than a song

--- e b bortz

(published in Cleveland Anthology of Poets, 2005)