On Returning to the Old Schoolyard

It starts here; square one,
the weakest seldom make it passed.
All vie for square four;
the maker of the rules, queen
of the court. Foursquare bully;
that's me. A retaliation
against the ridicule
of being poor,
of being a bastard.
It's all in good fun, but

crossing arms to double brace
won't ward-off crackling
from your bones when Red Rover calls
Tony to break the chain.
Two hundred pounds of 'paybacks-
are-hell' will kinetically
fracture the Franklin boys.
No mercy.

It stops here - Lesson Alley;
northside of the brick wall.
No second chance to say uncle.
Two jawbreakers

and three gumballs on Scotty
to bloody Bill Green's teeth
for calling his mom a whore.
Three clearies and a cat-eye bet
that Eric will cry and retract
that Randy's dad is town drunk.
Shiners, gashes, and crow
shoved down throats,
but no snitching, no grudges,
no semi-automatics.