I was young and stupid and focused
With the energy the drugs supplied,
And told her of a wondrous site,
A childhood haunt,
A tunnel where the might of America
Once roared along a straightaway,
And how it was the day
When Richie Valens died
And what it was to have a ferocious friend
Named Vinnie Maldonado
And prepubescent love stirring in my loins
As we waited with ballast
To bash the oncoming freight.She had things to share as well,
How she slept with an older man
Drowning in despair and how,
in an open field, she made love
To a deuce of strangers.By this time we were naked
In her apartment,
The George Washington Bridge
Present to our sight.
From far below a train whistle blew
And I swore, on my heart’s own blood,
To follow when I could.November 2002