—NOTHING LASTS FOREVER BUT THE EARTH AND SKY

 

I Remember Mandan

 

 

I remember 

puka shells and 

gay jokes  

platform shoes and 

choke holds   

three broken bones  

my first week 

me the new kid  

the girls liked  

who the boys  

tortured endlessly 

scarecrow tied to 

a tetherball pole 

fists and knuckles  

knuckles and fists 

each afternoon before  

the school bus  

belched to a stop 

In Spanish class  

I didn’t know  

the word for blind  

but I knew casa  

knew this wasn’t it 

so the next day I cut  

the first kid to lunge  

and the second but  

blacked out on the  

third fourth fifth 

fists and knuckles  

knuckles and fists  

blinding me in blood 

That night I packed up

without a note for Dad  

rode the dog bus west

watched the trees shuffle 

like a deck of cards   

while I claimed each 

blurred mile  

as my new home