Sarah Peters

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Runaway
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1.
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At seven, lived outside,
in a nearby wood,
with my cat
and four kittens,
for what I remember
as a weekend, to avoid
having the kittens given away.
Didn't have much of a plan, so when
the bologna sandwiches
ran out, I went home
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2.
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Ran away again at 13.
Slept in Mr. Shaker's office
at the Punch and Judy Theatre.
I was obsessed with theology,
so even though I had run away,
I was spot on-time for catechism.
My dad knew I wouldn't miss it
and waited outside school.
After, lost and depressed,
not a little from the '70s-produced
contemporary prodigal-son movie,
I heard "get in" from the half-open
electric windows of my dad's
brand-new 1980 Eggplant
Mercury Cougar Sedan.
To lessen the humiliation,
I got in the back seat,
as if he were my driver.
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