The Alley Poem by Randy McClave

Back of the house were most secrets are held
Where some parked their cars and the trash cans smelled,
That is where I once saw Mitch kissing little Sally
Back of her house, outside in the alley.
That is where we placed a hoop to play Basketball
And also where I looked at nude magazines and learned to catcall,
The front of a person's house might show a manicured lawn
But, back in the alley shows what is really going on.
That is where some people threw their secrets inside their bin
And the only ones knowing of their skeletons were the trash-men,
In the alley with friends is where I learned to swear and to curse
And I also learned and recited many dirty poems in verse.
Out in the alley is where with friends we use to meet
It is where we told our stories and we were never ever discrete,
Inside my parent's house I was such a good clean-cut young man
But, outside in the alley I was dirtier than any trashcan.

Randy L. McClave