Strip Mall Surprise
We began to see
the first sign of Strip Malls
toward the end of World War Two.
In fact I remember
something of a barbed wire
fence I used to peer through.
Wilmington,
North Carolina 1945.
Just a theater, grocery and truck stop.
But behind those walls
of new laid brick and mortar
was a dare of dares, no one can top.
A barb wire fence
built to keep someone in.
GERMANS ! (I was to sworn to secrecy)
Billy Fenster caught me
peeping around the corner
to get a look at what I was not supposed to see.
Look at Mr. Scaredy he said,
and with a snide look on his face,
“I d-double dare you to go to the fence painted red.”
Siddling along the brick
like a crab doing the moon walk
I stayed in the shadow feeling light in my head.
Kommen zie hier, I heard.
Seeing enough Don Winslow movies, I knew
what he meant. I walked but nothing did I utter.
Through the metal
he handed me a baseball.
In large letters he had scrawled “Gruber”
I saluted and he returning
smiled and needed no speaking.
I returned to Billy with my chest in elation.
And the baseball is still in my possession.
© Jun 12 2010 Charles Henderson
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