Places, People, and Objects

Places, People, and  Objects
 

In the attic (storage boxes and spider webs)
Where you and I would hide.
We played house; you killed a mouse
I don't know why I lied.

In the attic (old clothes and shoes)
I thought no one could hear
Me singing songs; I tried them on
I was a little queer

In the cellar (shelves of books)
We played a different game.
Eddie would try to make me cry;
I would learn the rules of shame

In our Kitchen, (avocado appliances)
Where we all sat down to eat
My Uncle smoked; and Eddie choked
What I said I can’t repeat.

In the classroom (pens and pencils)
Could M-m-miss Gormely tell?
I had changed.  Somehow estranged, and
In a living hell.

On our corner (pressed shirts, plaid ties)
In our uniforms we stood.
Confirmation, then alienation,
I’d scream out if I could!

In my mind (cobwebs and fragments)
The memories crystallize.
I listened to fools.  Searching for rules;
Which I could never internalize.
_______

In the study of my home (Storage boxes, books and pens)
I try to put this on a shelf
After all this time, all love, no crime,
I still objectify (myself).