Self-Portrait as Hawthorne (draft 2)

                        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,

            another starstruck girl in the city light’s

            shadow, was called Norma then.

            Memory, a misty mizzle, evaporating

            under the warmth of the sun.

            Discount stores choke the boulevard

            where families flocked to after Sunday

            services. A plane takes off from the runway

            of the municipal airport. It gains altitude,

            flies over the city and towards the sea.

            

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.