Skateboarding Day

Bald to the skin
Fat wrinkly head
Southern drawl
Sense of power
and you have it too
Hands behind your back
or I'll spray you
face down
oooooh
it wells up in me
oooooooh
I can't wait
that's right
stay focused on me
with the cuffs too tight
and the taste of pavement in my mouth
I can see my young friend
Behind you
you see me smile
the goosebumps on my arms
pulled tight
in ropes
Like a rodeo
Pig
Uh-oh
you hear the foot steps too late
CRACK!
Hit by a truck
that's what we call
the metal axle
beneath our skateboards
that's what you call assault
that's what we call
Justice
and you're right
you did spray me in the face
I like my new lipstick

Pete

I can hardly understand you

mumbling through that thick salt and pepper mustache

and jowls that bounce

like my girlfriend's

Boxer-bulldog

But

your lecture feels helpful

kind

The occasional words understood

Marriage

Church

Vietnam

the weight

of the wrinkles on your face

beg me to listen

pleading

'Dear God son,

Don't make the mistakes I've made'

and each day at work

as we swim

in cages

in scuba gear

amidst the alcoholics

and the selfish

and the greedy

You ask

'Hey there young feller,

mind if I have a seat'

of coarse not

and there are those words again

Marriage

Church

Vietnam

and I can't help but listen.

Words like winds

pass my ears

as the sermon comes to a close

my preacher stands up

hunched over

dragging himself away

leaving behind

a bit of himself

smiling anew