This was The Clue of the Snake in the Hollow Book.
It’s only a vignette...the one where aggressive, friendly
Middle aged men walk Larissa to her car. She is calmer.
She likes to hear us talk about farming and carpentry.

Her first love is ruined for her by beatings.
Glenn and I were her guards in spring and summer
Before and after work through P&G factory parking in Hamilton.
What does this mean now: Larissa? For us,
A thrill: young, smart, loving, flushed and excited; with
The exhaustion of giving more than she had.

It meant beauty and living with a beautiful boy:
She loved his fierce flatness and fiery boredom.
  
Night classes at McMaster University
She asks another student to walk her to her car.
She says, “Before this happened I was headed for medical school.”


Paul Anthony Hutchinson
www.paulanthonyhutchinon.com
Copyright Paul Anthony Hutchinson