Young Writers Society

Yo yo yo it's napo time baybee

1.

After I've Beefed It, My First Time on a Longboard

The roaring river rushes past
the skaters on their pathway, fast
and winding, edged by banks so sheer
that vertigo combines with fear.
But some bright streak attracts his eye:
he wants to look, so up we climb.
With hands on mud, I start to slide,
but reach the wall before I fall.

Graffitti tagged up on the wall
in gold and blue and white and all
the colors you'd find in the cans:
he looks at them though faux Ray Bans
and judges which are nice or cheap
or done by kids who think they're deep.
Then clambers down and starts to sweep
his board across the street toward

the parking lot. Our friend joins in
and races him. My bloody skin
distrusts my board. I opt to walk
and look at trees and river rocks
and hawks that soar with wings to wind.
I see them coming back again.
The day is coming to an end:
I want to stay, but skate away.

--
Form borrowed from William Barnes's Poem "Sister Gone"