Storyteller’s Peace
you were king
of the Zoo Crew –
the wildest of the
nicknamed,
t-shirt-sporting
high school
Animal House gang
of the 1980s
every teacher dreaded
you were class clown
you drive me to school
once in your 2-door
running Eddie Palmer on foot
up against a chain-link fence
further taunting
an already troubled kid
who held up a bank
through bullet proof glass
a few years later
you were a bully
you said you’d gone
in the store at the circle
for a pack of cigarettes
and left your car running
but heard the click
of the pistol
against your head
the minute your
barefoot butt
hit the seat
to drive away –
your abductor
behind you –
and everyone tried
to believe you
but no one ever could
you were a storyteller
so many holes
in your tales
but the marriage
was a cruel front –
a good friendship
that went past a first kiss
and trapped you
in a world of walls
you couldn’t escape
you never came out
but we always knew
in the end
a storyteller
finds peace
Common Threads 