Review: Panorama Taken While Rolling Down a Hill
I was looking at him & he
was rapt in the sun
leap-frogging over the California valley. A heartless game of king-
of-the-hill: I bury desire with sneaker trampling;
fertilize the green-gold patches.
Hook him
from the armpits. Make him beg
for his uncle.
Headlock & drop
to my knees like two blades
of a crashing anchor:—
Throw ourselves overboard or
to the wind or
whichever he prefers.
We fall head-over-groin-over-
baseball-cap.
Remember: dicks & balls are just things to punch
or be punched in:—or doodle on his notebook when the teacher isn’t looking.
Who was wrapped in who
while we slow-tumbled like yesterday’s dirty
laundry? How will I re-explain
the grass stains & purpled cheek?
The school-scape still orbiting my sunlit prayer:
When:—O when:—will he punch me again?
Joseph O’Connor is a senior at SUNY Geneseo. He is a student of English literature working towards NYS certification in adolescent education with a minor in Women’s and Gender Studies. Next year, he will join the 2015 Teach for America corps as a Secondary English Language Arts teacher in Miami, Florida. If he were to befriend a fictional character, he would host regular slumber parties with his B-F-F Albus Dumbledore, where the two would paint their nails with magic, share ghost stories, and dish the latest wizard gossip.
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