Be Hardy Boy

                                                                     “They were healthy, normal,
                                                             American boys of high school age.
                                                                                  - Franklin W. Dixon


Joe, lookie Joe,
stop gawking at Callie
and dogging around after Frank
just for a moment Joe

‘cuz what I’m saying is
why not just tell your mom and dad
that everyone knows Iola Morton is not
taking swim lessons at the YWCA
like she’s told her parents, that she’s
taking the #38 downtown to do
other stuff on those nights and
that you love this version of her
like you’ve only ever loved two others –
that nun in the sixth grade whose ruler was always
so quick to strike, and the drifter you met
far far west of Bayport that one summer your folks
sent you off to camp? If you could do that,
just tell ‘em right out like that,
I bet you could also tell ‘em
that good ol’ Chet can’t make it to lunch anymore
without an arm full of junk and that he
needs to get help soon or he’ll die

and if all that goes well,
real well, and they’re still listening
without that glassy-eyed look of
too much wine and Thanksgiving pie
you might even mention, just real quick,
how much it bugs you, how much
it’s always sort of bugged you, that
your family has no black friends,
no asian friends, and no latino friends
that ever come around for dinner
or a little pleasant conversation

‘cuz that’s my point Joe –
my whole point is why not just tell your folks
that much and then you could stop there,
stop and you wouldn’t have to say anything more
except to tell ‘em that you still pray to God each night, still
believe in the triumph of a detective’s reason over chaos, still
think mom’s pies and roast are the best in six counties –
you could say no more except to tell ‘em
that you don’t want to touch up children or
anything and that you’re not thinking of going
to the Bayport Clarion with this kind of stuff –

you could stop right there. And if you did,
I’ll bet you’d all still be as close as
you ever were, and who cares
if other people won’t think it best
to buy your books anymore after that.