Neither world-weary nor wise
we took our summer place
on the line
with those already there
with those who would be there
long after we had returned to the Groves of Academe.
Punching in and punching out was our luxury.
It brought the extras -
smokes, six-packs, vinyl,
especially vinyl.
In a pinch, we could, and did,
run to Warbucks.
One of the lifers - an ex-con -
showed me how to operate a forklift.
That afternoon I filled the loading dock
with the blue haze of its electric motor
while he sat among the pallets
with Penthouse.
Two weeks later he was gone,
sent back, I was told, to the pen
with someone else's roll of twenties
in his greasy pocket.
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| Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison |