“When I grow up”: My first, and only, award-winning poem, circa 1978.

Look at that outfit. I wish I had the adult equivalent of that shirt.  Maybe I do. And by “outfit” I mean the hot librarian’s dress.

Look at that wide-legged reading stance, the two-handed grip of the manuscript.  That’s a style.  Students in my English 218: Poetry in Performance class take note!

Another thing: I read the last word, “dynamite,” like J.J. Walker does in the hit sitcom, Good Times. Dy-no-mite!

By “award-winning,” I mean second place, and by “winning,” I mean a Maple Shade, NJ-library sponsored contest. The winner, somebody in my grade, went on to sell coke in the Navy.  It was also obvious that when he read it, he got a little help. And by “help,” I mean his mom wrote it.