Those Boys from Roadside Saints by Zoe Mulford

Jamie and Kevin are down by the high-school track
hanging around with the guys
Just killing time and flipping their skateboards
over the curb into the summer sky
Swooping down the path that leads
down a dozen concrete stairs
Jamie rides the railing down
and Kevin rides the air

Where do those boys go?
When do they slip away?
Big-footed puppies will be big dogs someday
and time stands still for them
They learn to play it cool
practising in the parking lot after school

Someone says Awesome! Jamie just shrugs
and Kevin pretends not to hear
They make as if they weren't out here practising
after school every day last year
Before the dusk turns streetlights on
you can get in a hundred times
Ninety times you eat the pavement
The ninety-first you fly

Where do those boys go?
When do they slip away?
Big-footed puppies will be big dogs someday
and time stands still for them
They learn to play it cool
practising in the parking lot after school

Jamie thinks maybe he'll train as an EMT
Maybe he'll join a band
Kevin just knows this town is too small for him
He's got to get away from his old man
He sees eternity stretched out
between him and next year
Soon as I get my license, he says
I'll be out of here

Where do those boys go?
When do they slip away?
Big-footed puppies will be big dogs someday
and time lies in wait for them
Time may be kind or cruel
but it doesn't care for the time they spent here
learning to be cool
practising in the parking lot after school

• Folk
• clawhammer banjo
• neo-traditional
• singer-songwriter
• Manchester