Garrett Phelan
Confirmation
Early, with little money, we’d gather at the corner,
slip into Maxwell Drugs on Farmington Avenue
and climb onto the red and silver stools,
order a cherry-Coke, light up a Lucky Strike
and inhale deeply.
Sometimes, bored, we’d exhale
into our straw submerged in the cherry-Coke
and watch the bubbles burst with cigarette smoke.
Soon, we’d divide into pairs, stick out our thumbs
on North Main Street and hitchhike to Barkhamsted
to swim across the huge reservoir,
climb the cliff walls, or dive from tree limbs-
to dare ourselves to be indestructible.
Once on the way home the driver of a Chevy Impala
hit 110mph on Rte. 44 to impress us.
We laughed. We got out at Bishop’s Corner,
lit our cigarettes and inhaled. When we returned,
we put one foot up against the wall outside Maxwell Drugs,
leaned back, and exhaled, happy with who we were.
