Noon Hour
By
Peggy Trojan
Unless hot lunch at school
was serving something special
like corn chowder
and baking powder biscuits
or creamed chipped beef
potatoes and brownies
I went home
to what my
mother made
like most town kids
Jack walked the furthest
almost to the river
to his unpainted house
by the railroad tracks
We all knew nobody was there
his mom at the tavern already
He always came back
Just in time for the bell.
was serving something special
like corn chowder
and baking powder biscuits
or creamed chipped beef
potatoes and brownies
I went home
to what my
mother made
like most town kids
Jack walked the furthest
almost to the river
to his unpainted house
by the railroad tracks
We all knew nobody was there
his mom at the tavern already
He always came back
Just in time for the bell.
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Disclaimer
We do not accept unsolicited submissions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2019 by Peggy Trojan, “Noon Hour,” from Local News: Poetry About Small Towns, (MWPH Books, 2019). Poem reprinted by permission of Peggy Trojan and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2024 by The Poetry Foundation.