Gregory A. Kompes

Balmy nights, sun drenched days
Random escape to personal freedom
Pit orchestra nights, rehearsal days
Entry to adulthood Sarasota style.

Railroad flat, hardwood floors
Comfortable porch, afternoon rains
Rent to pay, Cat to feed
Hundred year live oak

Out of the closet, into the theaters
Sarasota hired for years: Studio,
Asolo, Friends, Apple, Players
Hand-to-mouth life, appreciated

Happy Hour cocktail friendships
Moonlit dolphin walks
Fleeting love, naked beaches
Sandy blankets, passionate embraces

Coming of age without reason
Instead through trial and error
Infatuation, angst, optimism, fear
Freedom a choice, rite of passage

Art conformed, payment due
Freedom turned obligation
Unready for compromise
Back in the Ford toward a new location.