Free Trespass by Thomas Dooley Page A

power
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  I kept giving you.

    Â 
    VI
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  I see you as a boy
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  at the community garden
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  lacing tomato stems, your hands
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  quick with twine. I watch
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  the direct daydream
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  of your stare, how
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  your green eyes cycle
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  light. You mind the squash curls
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  before you race out the gate
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  shoelaces wild on the pavement
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  snap like jacks.

    Â 
    VII
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  You say you need
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  time yet I keep
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  coming back
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  isn’t my heart
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  the dumbest kid
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  in the class
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  the dirty kid who
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  no one wants
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  to sit next to but he
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  reaches out with gum
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  and granola bars and
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  they scratch into his desk
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  with the needle
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  from a math compass
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  they ink “THINK SOAP”
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  on the beige enamel of his locker
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  he doesn’t know
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  anything better just
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  days when Xander
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  is absent and the room
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  falls quiet he thinks
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  in the moments
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  when chalk scrapes
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  a music of slate
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  a sparkle of white
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  dust it’s all radiant theater
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  this escape might make
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  him happy that the kids
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  love him and he
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  has good lunches
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  and he swings for hours
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  upside down from the monkey bars
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  his head pendulous
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  just above chipped-up
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  wood as his shadow
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  draws giant totems
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  on the grass shrinking
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  and growing shrinking
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  and growing for hours
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  he could do that
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  as blood charges his head
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  and he feels
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  he might pass out
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  from the wild joy
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  he is a bell clanging
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  as if to call everyone
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  and shout this is all
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  my body can do
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  up this high
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  you can’t touch me
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  as long as I keep pumping
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  my skinny arms.

    Â 
    VIII
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Chestnuts harden in spiky
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  green husks, my brothers and I
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  would walk the driveway
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  in our socks, braved it
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  under the chestnut tree
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  and you give me
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  a husk to hold
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  suffer its unkindness.

    Â 
    IX
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  It’s been five weeks
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  since I left you and I leave
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  the family brunch, pass
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  the hidden plastic