Thirty Six Years

Suzanne and I were married thirty-six years ago today.  All the kids were thrilled to have a blog post dedicated to them so I'm sure that Suzanne will feel the same way if I dedicate this page to our partnership that has survived several hairstyle changes. I thought this would be a great opportunity to share with the blog world another of my unpublishable poems. 

The poem below describes how Suzanne and I met back in 1970. It is cleverly titled, "Rochester - 1970" because I noticed a lot of famous poets title their poems that way.

 Rochester 1970

The Kids asked how we met.
The Spring of ’70 – that’s what I said.
When you threw that Frisbee
across the Quad and called my name.

But I already knew who you were.

Freshmen guys get no action in the fall.
So we studied the “Pig Book”
(they probably don’t call it that anymore).
and waited for spring.
Checked out the girls
from Rye and Red Hook,
Scarsdale and Corning.

We all noticed you.
The little Asian girl with no eyelashes.
That smile of innocence.
You looked like you were twelve.

Remember Mike Dattoria
(who drowned that summer)?
He was in your math tutorial.
Said you were beautiful and nice too!
For him, you were to die for.

And George Walker - the smug Sophomore.
Bragged about all the girls he’d had.
Said “Suzy Sawada’s pretty as sin”
Called you “Suzy” – he didn’t know you.
George was an asshole.

Then I saw you at the Homecoming Ball
with that blond ROTC guy from Glens Falls
Surprised me when you said “Hi”.

And then it was Spring
and you threw that Frisbee
across the Quad and called My name

and I caught it.

June 14, 2004

The 70s

The 80s

Later

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