Two Worlds

Ervin Pike
was what girls called
a sweet boy
safe to walk home with

His hair curled white-trash long
around his neck
before it became high style
He was too poor for a barber
and hated home crock cuts

the last time I saw Ervin in Oklahoma
was in front of Big Muddy Mercantile
He said his father was about
ready to give up farming
and head for California

The next time I saw him
was on Main Street in Merced 1937
in front of the Merced Theater
I didn't recognize him at first glance
hair cut short-still shiny, thick--
he had given up bib overalls
for black dress pants and a silky shirt

There was a girl with him
slim as a reed
with the blondest hair
I ever saw
so pretty she hurt my eyes

I never let on to little Buster
that I saw Ervin ahead of us
We got our tickets
and sat several rows back of them
Once there was a space between
patrons' heads
and I saw Ervin kiss the girl

Notes

McDaniel, Wilma. (2001) Borrowed Coats. Hanging Loose Press, Brooklyn, New York.
Courtesy University of California, Merced Library. Copyright owned by the Regents of the University of California.