Tenters - Dublin 8

After “Knoxville, Tennessee” by Nikki Giovanni

I always like lanes

Best

You can cut through blocks

And be surprised

And meet with ghosts

And frighten friends

And yourself

When all's said and done,

And escape from Billy’s gang

By knowing the secret ways

And get home safely

When you have wandered too far,

And hang out in Nancy’s Lane

And choke on cigarettes

Bought in ones

With a match supplied

By an enterprising shopkeeper,

And make plans

And talk of girls

And hopes for better times

And getting out of school.

Often

As an adult I turn into a lane

And I'm twelve again.