Elvira Selow, _chewing gum

.................................
chewing gum
.................................

it was the time
when we explored
our bodies
three girls behind the bushes
tickling each other
with blades of grass
where no breasts had grown yet
or when we met in the cellar
to show our little bottoms
breaking the ban
thrilled us like electric shocks

it was the time
after the refugee camp
when once a month
I was allowed to buy
a colorful lollipop
ten pfennigs each
when my only clothes
came from a neighbor's daughter
with blonde hair
and a mother with money

it was the time
when we went to the cinema
a low dirty-green building
two hundred yards nearby
my friend suggested
let's look at the pictures
and I saw them
from the outside
because mom said movies
were too expensive

it was the time
when we tried to sing
like our first pop stars
like Connie Francis
while older boys imitated
James Dean or Bill Haley
and we rolled our tongues
to talk with American accents

it was the time
when I decided
to cut off my plaits
and to marry
the boy nextdoor
when we built igloos in winter
and in summer jumped
into heaps of hay

the time when we stopped
whatever we were playing
as soon as one of us shouted
"die Amis!"
then we rushed to the street
watched the GIs driving by in their jeeps
in their nato olive-green shirts
they smiled at us
as we waved and screamed
with our shining eyes and
watering mouths
and their hands fingered
in nato olive-green pockets
then flung tiny packs
that we could not wait
to pick up
we preferred spearmint

.................................
Elvira Selow
.................................

Next in ring: ...a poem in this room by David Rutkowski...
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