-at the palms of our hands-

Trace the east-side of the working

Pepperell Mills to the fresh-water ponds
Of the great Watuppa—
Then trace the side
To the back of them northward
Moving toward the cemeteries. 
Then render the side

To the front of them southward
Into the frantic movie-theaters of
Saturday afternoons.

Indicate the sidewalls

Facing west toward the River
To the red-bricked Housing Projects
And connect the circle.

This is our testament.

Start at the tenement houses

Room to room.
Run the map through the kitchens

Pushing the screen-
Doors open to the entries at the street
Crossing to the Park, glancing
The Gas Station's pumps.

Continue mapping from behind the billboards
And through the stiff meadow northward.

Move the tips of your fingers above the slow
Rise of the hill to the Church

Staring-down our preferences from its narrow eyes
And run the line eastward to the frantic schoolrooms.

Remember: Posture, boys and girls.


Posture.
Trace a strong line south to the Ledge,

Remnant of quarried granite with its inviting
Still-water of iron waiting there to kill us,
And north again to the street, crossing
The craggy backyards laying under the green
And purple grapevines.

Elevate over the Junkyard fence beyond

The heavy clotheslines gathering
The cloth of the working class,
Crawl beneath the porches to stash our goods.—
My house. Your house.— Knock
The sour-green apples down.—

Shag the foul
Baseballs bounding into the street
Before the narrow sewers drink them up

And for the first time
Let's not question the presence

Of the neighborhood girls
When they come around with their curious
Intensions.
Let's find-out what they're up to.

I’m at the beginning;
At the palms of our hands.

Mourn our early dead;

Remember how we waited.
Let's pour into the leather-like
Booths of the Diners;

Go to the music and dance with our girls
At the bustling Halls on hot Friday nights.

This is our body.

Come on.
Let's get together, fat men.
Come on.

Let's eat lunch together, fat men,

Pray along with the droll invocation,

Pledge an allegiance,

Sing the anthem to it.
Let's present the latest vacation photos
Filed in plastic sleeves, fanning fast from the wallets.
You’ve a right to do so.
You've a right to do such things as act your ages.

Tell me that you see

This table-filled get-together shrinking
Fast in the round.—
Now, ask me something.

Ask me something. Ask me now and hear

Of how I loved you.
This is our blood.