Vertago

Peter Callahan is dead ..

      I first met Peter at a hearing exam.
      There was just the two of us, standing
      opposite each other with headphones
      and the examiner at a sound control panel.
      We would raise our right hand when we heard
      the beep.

      This exam took place at the Peabody grammar
      school. We were boys and Peter had been sent
      to this exam from St. Peter's grammar school.
      I smiled at Peter after the exam and he hit me
      in the temple. It sounded like a hammer hitting
      wood and I felt dizzy.

      The examiner took Peter outside the examination
      room and returned to ask me if I was okay.
      He flashed a tiny pin light across my eyes.
      I didn't see Peter again until High school.
      I noticed Peter in my homeroom on my first
      day at the Fundamental House of Cambridge
      Ringe High School.

      He walked over and hit me in the temple
      and jaw.
      I picked him up and tossed him into a desk.
      He ran out of the room.
      We were called to the principle's office
      and told to behave.
      I asked Peter why he hit me.

      "I don't like your face." he replied.
      He wouldn't give me anything more specific.
      Over the four years, Peter repeatedly attacked
      me. He'd hit me and I'd toss him.
      I guess I'm more of a wrestler.
      Several, years latter I met Peter again.
      I greeted him and he said, "Fuck off!"

      A friend from high school has informed
      me Peter Callahan is dead.
      He was married and had two kids.
      He was a bus driver.
      And I believe he was a psychopath.
      I still don't like him.