Something Borrowed by Joan Leotta

In the days before internet
and cell phones tracked us,
I spent four mostly quiet years
in college, in a town
that allowed 3.2 beer
for the under 21 set.
Younger than that
and a hater of 3.2 beer,
when invited to celebrate
one afternoon
at a local “nicer” bar,
I borrowed an ID
from a 5 ft 9-inch redhead
with green eyes, Irish name,
an expired out-of-state license
So when I ordered my first
grasshopper, the waitress
in the dim light, squinted--
none of the information
was where this state put it,
so but brought my drink.
And the second. And the third.
All, in spite of the fact that 5 ft 2 inch,
brown haired , brown eyed
very Italian me was not likely
to be named Maggie O’Shea.
After the third, I began to feel
chocolate and mint trying
to come up.
One girl called her boyfriend,
who, with other friends,
walked over to walk us back
to our college residence.
We stumbled, tripped, laughed
all the way home while the boys
laughed at us while keeping
us from falling flat on the sidewalk.
For weeks after I kept to ginger ale,
and even after I turned 21
it was straight up drinks only for me.
Even now, I can’t even eat
a chocolate mints or hear the wordgrasshopper without turning green myself.

  

 

 

  

 

Joan Leotta
Author, Story Performer
“Encouraging words through Pen and Performance”
Nominated for Pushcart and Best of Net in 2022
"Feathers on Stone" poetry chapbook available from me and at
https://mainstreetragbookstore.com/product/feathers-on-stone-joan-leotta/

Other Joan Leotta Books
Languid Lusciousness with Lemon, Finishing Line Press (Amazon)
Morning by Morning and Dancing Under the Moon, two free mini-chapbooks are at https://www.origamipoems.com/poets/257-joan-leotta