3rd grade
		---------------------------------------------------------

		school uniforms dark blue or black with a white collar
		language -- such as it was
		redolent in metaphor before we knew metaphors from adam
		4th grade -- we boys would chase the same girl
		chase is the operative word
		like a pack of hyenas runs an antelope down
		down the market street
		but.  this is a story of a lovely lady
		of a 3rd grade message
		entombed now in my mother's chinese vase
		it says:  our forces...
		it's a kenning and a counterfactual in one
		our forces -- standing for having a crush
		our forces -- having the crush kept secret
		our forces -- peter gabriel singing -- can't you feel
		our souls ignite
		a pack of 'em -- really just one slender unlit cherootie

		you've come a long way baby let your hair (be) down


			Marek Lugowski
			16 May 1999
			Chicago, Illinois