Those Boys

in high school
it was always
the boys
with long lacquered hair
who drove
old novas and el caminos
and wore ripped faded levis
with heavy keychains
attached at the belt loops
who looked like
springsteen songs
who took auto mechanics and metal shop
and said
'ow you doo'n
and smelled like cheap aftershave
it was always
those boys
who wanted to
marry me

i would slide
folded
lined
pieces of notebook paper
into the vents of their lockers
with the single word

no

written in red ink
across them
because I
was waiting
for the perfect football player
who
never arrived