Canto I

I walked her home,
Drunk off her ass,
Pulling on that spot
Where the neck meets the shoulder.

She was bigger than I am,
And not sober myself,
I dragged her down
The street-lit Hagen Drive.

It had been the last party
Of the summer before senior year,
A show of freedom before
We feigned responsibility.

We came in quietly
(As quietly as drunk girls can),
Slowly turning the bolt,
And inching open the door.

Her parents knew, of course,
But they remembered school,
And so, resigned to youth,
They slept as she passed out.

It was a longer walk for me
Down the drive and up the lane,
Just trying to walk straight
And make it to my bed.

My parents had set no trap;
They knew there was no need.
I knew my curfew had past,
And the lights were on in the house.


Canto II

At a lock-in for our choir
(To make a tight-knit group),
We played games and gossiped,
Wasting time together.

In one game we played,
We linked our hands and pulled,
Shifting hard and fast
Until the bang.

It rang a little in my head,
And we all dropped our hands.
Most left the room, but some stayed
And told me to lie down.

They raised my feet and talked to me,
Though I was tired and confused.
I didn't know what happened
Or notice that she wasn't there.

I heard voices from the hall
And laughter from the other room,
While I lied, just wanting to sleep,
And they kept me awake.

The night no more than a blur,
I woke up in a bed
In a room I didn't know.
A nurse came and took my pulse.


Canto III

Another weekend
With her parents out of town,
We've met at my friend's.
She falls down, and I pick her up.