Summer hide n seek
In the foliage among the houses
Rarely a car at all on the street
The street with its mysterious manhole cover
Hidenseek with Mare
When she was only Mary
And Beth and Pat
And Jay and Eric and Gary
Nancy, sometimes Andy,
Lissa (nee Lisa),
But never Billy,
Never Trisha (Banana Nose) or Scott,
And never Doug

Warm warmarks on my arms
Scabs from bike riding wipeouts
Too chicken to take the jump
Some anonymous boys erected in The Field
But then I do
When I come to
I'm led off bleeding
While they continue jumping
("Hey, let's get a hose! Let's make mud!")
My 50's-era bike is a piece of shit
My late Mom negotiated the deal
From Kenny Wulashin back in Mountain View
So it's a bully's bike
(Perhaps it was part of a reparations package)

Mountain View, a one-horse town
Beyond Grant was vague nothing
Cuesta Park all sticked-trees and new grass
And a couple of outbuildings
The hot simple sun of the 1970
"Here Comes The Sun" on the radio
Scary water tower towering above the corner
"There's alligators in there..."