Sidenote/Grounds, 1993

by James A. Gardner




.
.
The young man at the Highland Grounds
the one who wears a Kerouac t-shirt
and jeans that (as fashion dictates) 
conceal in baggy denim
what must be fine form
is my first crush in over a year.
.
Ah! But I cannot have him, his clear
blue eyes, slacker's posture,
youthful fervor in cafe society were
(the way he eyes me for what I am
 in a crowd, says nothing, lives nearby)
--not meant for one such as I --
who eschews younger men in general, 
and in particular, this man, 
who has so much to learn
before that heavier beard replaces 
what must still be fresh belief.
.
Will he, like Kerouac, turn putrid
w/ the weary road-eyes of disappointment
and alcoholic train station bitterness?
.
4 March 1993


©1996, by James A. Gardner

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