I remember when kids ate free at Friendly’s
Open up, choke down
Frozen, never fresh burger patty
How free is that?
“Shouldn’t’ve filled up on strawberry milk”
You shouldn’t have-
My father, always a needle
Jumping the groove
Most summers we spent
Six hours northeast of home
Held up in a two-bedroom condo
That hadn’t changed
Since the decade before my birth
But we don’t go to Myrtle Beach anymore
It’s different being grown-
Knowing what “crime rate” means
I remember when my stepdad
Welcomed in the 21st century
Before setting fire to his lease
Or however he held onto the place
So goddamn long
He and my mom live in Florida now
And why would I go to South Carolina anyways?
They tore down Friendly’s before I even graduated
And there’s no such thing as a “free lunch”
