Self-Portrait as Hawthorne

                         This heaven gives me migraine.

                                                - Gang of Four

           

            Faint sounds of bygone summers linger

            Through suburban avenues. Hotrods cruised

            On Friday nights full of kids looking for

            Something to do. Football games, dances &

            Hamburger stands would often suffice.

            Brian found his voice here. Marilyn was

            Another star struck girl in the shadow of

            City lights. They called her Norma then.

            Memory becomes a misty mizzle evaporating

            Under the warmth of the sun.

            At 3701 W. 119^th Street a young boy choked

            Back tears as he stared into the scarred

            Socket where his father’s eye had been.

            He could never let his sons forget

            The sacrifice he made.