how long did the pledge go on? i remember it all through grade school at least. i can still feel my butt on the hard wood seat. being the only one left sitting. it seemed so long that song. i hated the sound. i wanted to crawl out of my skin. i saw the birds through the window on the playground eating snacks. the freight train chugging slowly past. the past stops there in my mind. on recess we wandered onto the tracks and an old coot ran us off saying he'd put his foot up our ass. later i hopped freights from carbondale to chicago, covered in coal dust, and got chased by rail police and locals calling us river rats.