ASKING FOR
IT…”
Gail Hennessy
Encounters with the Law
Jeff Carter’s The Picnickers, 1961
the day turned ugly when a group
of dervish dancers swooped seaward
caught me walking the water’s edge
two ran each side with a beach towel
tripwire to sprawl me on the sand
on surface hard as set cement
my father would have none of it
drove my brother and me to the police
station and lodged an assault charge
I met the detective at the trial
and afterward he was waiting
as I stepped from the train
he offered me a lift
he lived just around the corner
from my home
I was sixteen and he a family man
he pulled into a side street
it seemed innocent enough
until he slid across the seat
groping for my breasts
I opened the door and ran
forever printed on my mind’s eye
four sunbakers head into sand hills
in a promise of endless summer
image: William Rouse 