When I went back to Chapel Hill
Floyd found better people to hang with.
There was a tall, aloof boy in the complex
who I found threatening
that I guess was closer to Floyd’s age
and they seemed to get along pretty well.
Floyd didn’t find time for me.

The Summer I was twelve
wasn’t as fun as eleven,
I can tell you that.
Still, it was all right to be in the laid back atmosphere
of a college town out of season.
Way different from the oppressive congestion of a New York City Summer.

I spent some good time in the pool
and with MASH novels
and Beetle Bailey comics.
Did you know he was a teenager before the army?
Fascinating, yeah?
I’d swim and work on my tan
my rolling belly sizzling under the sun.
I’d watch Floyd and Aryan Youth hanging out
across the way
doing whatever teenagers do
as I kept eyes affixed to my book
certain I’d learn their mysteries soon enough.

Decades later
no longer in the south
I still long to learn
as my round belly sizzles
under the Summer sun.