Madeline asked if I would go with her
to Radio City Music Hall for a show.
I was naïve and young; she was pretty.
We left New Haven by train, were
deposited on Manhattan’s bright,
teeming shore one crisp winter’s night.
In the crowd’s crush I was on edge,
fought an urge to bolt. Madeline sensed
my fear, reassured me, held my hand.
Madeline, glowing, her cheeks flushed.
Madeline, unafraid, starting to show,
aware of all gifts of the season.
Andrew Shattuck McBride grew up in Volcano, Hawaiʻi, six miles from the summit of Kīlauea volcano. Based now in Washington state, he is co-editor of For Love of Orcas (Wandering Aengus). His work appears in literary journals including Rattle, San Diego Poetry Annual, Clockhouse, and Crab Creek Review.
