GRATE AMERICAN

Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
Time held me green and dying
--Dylan Thomas, "Fern Hill"

I need you babe,
To put through the shredder
In front of my friends
-- Pink Floyd, "Don't Leave Me Now"

Childhood is complicated. It's a time of unalloyed pleasures and cruel betrayals. This picture gives new meaning to the phrase "salad days."