Glittering, twitching, armored and spiked.
The kind of kids I never liked,
Tread on my galoshes,
Mash my shopping bag, splash my hose.
None of them reads nor washes.

Whiteface, stripeface, spotface, troll,
Scum of slum, preserved by dole,
They snarl, harrass, surround.
Demented, doped, edentulous:
"AMERICAN SCHOLAR'S BODY FOUND!"

Damp, dun, buttoned, mackintoshed,
Coif and clothes rebellions quashed
Three job's ago, I stand,
Sustained by talismans
People like me can understand.

Punk, tinder, kindling, dwindling fuse,
Bedaubed to menace, not amuse;
Smouldering, shouldering, scorning hope,
They have their turf, bright rags and chains.
I'm holding maturity, notebooks and soap.