The Ballad of Al Catfish

The Ballad of Al Catfish

Learning the hard way
is often the best way
it sticks in the memory
sets off certain alarms.

I was waiting
outside Richards Jr. High
for my ride after school
last week of the school year.

Albert Catfish walked by
with his friends
the rich boys

As Albert walked by
he punched me hard in the gut.

I was shocked
with the breath knocked out of me
I thought he was my friend
I learned a hard lesson about friends
that day.

Albert Fischer got mad
when I put him in a comic strip
as Albert Catfish
He found his place in the chronology
though mostly just forgotten erased from canon

He lived
up on Edgewood Road area
I think everybody did back then.

Tip Top Drive
all that uppity crowd.

I remember his face
Vic Noir and the others
also.
Tough guy with dirty blonde hair
greasy Germanic pimple face
his grin with nasty braces
eating tuna like a big shot.

Later
sometime during Summer
1973 vacation
they shipped me off to Carver High

But as in the Bible
I went to Hardaway High
to find my bride.

Al Catfish and Berlin
seem to fit.

-Will Dockery (6-23-2021)