just off Grove Street that in summer was
surrounded by scarlet roses?
Did you walk past it on a hot day
wearing your sky-blue teeshirt with a patch that said
"Donati's Gulf Service"
on your way to the Corral Restaurant
looking for your big brother Billy?
Was he there eating a sausage grinder?
Did he laugh at you in a way you instantly forgave?
Did Billy drive a blue Jeep whose seats felt
wonderfully high up?
And when Billy was off somewhere
did you sit on one of the Revolutionary cannons
in the park with some girl named Julie,
near the statue of some tall green man?
Was it Julie or another kid with whom
you spent a week or at least a day
saying "Wugga wugga wugga," you secret message
derived from a Tarzan movie?
Did that happen?
And do you now wish you knew who that green statue was of?
And do you now find those scarlet roses bedecking
one dark space in your head and softly buzzing?
---Mark Halliday
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