Being made to drink vinegar from a sponge,
that part was true. And feeling bad for the lepers.
Being a Cub Scout with a glue gun

Was handed the pamphlet of maxims, took it into my heart, folks did
                that then.

No sadness. Secrecy’s a sweet wine we sip from one cup.   
Someone sits alone in her car in the dark, listening to the engine tick.
Now she’s OK, she enters the house.

The year of stepping out from the matinee
onto the bright sidewalk and waiting
for our mothers to pull up in tan station wagons.

Never put your personal spoon in the common jelly bowl.
Spread your napkin upon your lap. Do not grasp.
Eat what meat your fork can get to; the rest of the lobster must be given up for lost.