Puberty Poem by Roger Greenwald

was it at the Palace of Sport in 1952? a whole school class
disappeared into the green water
they don't surface again
until today
and I feel the strong smell
of chlorine in my nostrils. we were locked up
like all the dusty birds
in the biology room. all exits barred
by a white-clad lunchroom matron
who filled the whole world
with her enormous bosom
by teachers and
officers in the reserves. law
and order. there was nothing else to do
but let the air out of Mr. Fürstenberg's bike tires
wander off and get lost
whenever we had orienteering.
year after year
the boy in the Tarzan swimsuit
has been bouncing up and down on the trampoline.
howling in a shrill breaking voice
he dives into the water
to gaze in silence
at the girls' legs. but they are already married
and all rolled up in lilac bathrobes.