Positive Vibration

by on Nov 24, 2016

             East Hartford, Connecticut
                  1961

I threw bricks at the windows of the school,
and I stole a plastic skeleton from
the Prospect Drug just before Halloween.
I started smoking Kents when I was 12,
and when the Scout leaders had trusted me
to sort the uniforms in the basement
I thought it would be a good idea to
dress up like a Girl Scout and make Greg laugh.
Of course I got caught in my skirt and blouse
by Father Shanley, who called me a snake.
They finally tossed me out in the eighth grade.
The vibrations of the Beach Boys were good,
but years would pass before I really knew
what the positive ones were all about.

 


John L. Stanizzi is the author of Ecstasy Among Ghosts, SleepwalkingDance Against the WallAfter the Bell, and Hallelujah Time!  His poems have appeared in American Life In Poetry, Prairie Schooner, Rust + Moth, The New York Quarterly, Rattle, and others.  He teaches literature at Manchester Community College.  Find him online at johnlstanizzi.com.

2 thoughts on “Positive Vibration

  1. Mary McCarthy says:

    Oh John you sound so much like me in those years!! I loved to break glass and the rules whenever I could—and got kicked out of religion class by Sr Dolorene because I didn’t pray with the others, just stood there waiting for them to finish. She said she couldn’t stand to see my hard cynical face with all the innocent ones. It was fine if I went to hell but she wouldn’t let me take any of the others with me. What a sweetheart!! To me it was just more free time. I think our imaginations just wore those good folks out! Love the poem!

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