recovering notes from the deep, part 17

d had olive skin

     imagine joan baez
but then deserting
her northside roots
for some guy
in the shady side academy

but before all that

she spoke to me
in the hallway
at oliver high school
asking me when i moved
to the northside
and how was it going

it wasn't

since being uprooted
once again
and never adjusting
to the fall hay fever season
and coal dust clouds
rising off the allegheny
monongahela & ohio valleys

everybody at oliver

seemed to have a chip on their shoulder
at one time or another
myself included

and it would be another year

before my attempt at track & football
trading in a trench coat
with the collar turned up
for eventually a letter sweater
with a big orange "o"
but all of that
too late
for d

--- e b bortz