The Fountain in Charleston

Contributor: Ron Yazinski

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Just because they feel like chew toys
For both their men and god,
Doesn’t mean their kids have to feel that way.
At least, not yet.

So the mothers take them
To the tiered fountain by Charleston Bay,
To wash themselves of the awful August heat,
To splash in the cool spraying water,

Near the sign that reads “Positively no bathing.”
They’re not too young to learn
That sometimes
Trespassing is the only way to get by.


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Ron Yazinski is a retired English teacher, who divides his time between Northeastern Pennsylvania, which has all the charm of an underground parking garage, and Winter Garden, Florida.