Remember an Early Summer

Remember an Early Summer

Yard

The first house I lived in

had a small back yard,

Yet it contained

two cherry trees,

standing side by side,

hovering over our back porch,

radiant with white blossoms

that lit up our lives

each spring.

I climbed both trees, yes,

ate the cherries, too,

and spit their seeds

to the ground.

Dandelions and clover,

were our unkempt

groundcover--my

roll-around friends

in hot suns

and early cool nights--

my mother industrious

in the wings, mistress

of roses and peonies.

Once in awhile

when my father prevailed,

I mowed the grass.

To Ponder

            1.   I recently read a delightful novel from the 50s,

                  “Dandelion Wine,” by the late Ray Bradbury.

            2.   With summer approaching, it put me in mind of

                  this week’s poem, “Yard,” and early youth.

            3.   The yard shone up to my upstairs bedroom

                  window, so too The Soo Line Railroad, the yard’s

                  south boundary, passing daily, clickedy-clack.

            4.   It’s difficult to tally the full importance of that yard

                  in my life as the memories rush in and stick hard.

            5.   Did you have a yard, a street, park or playground

                  where you chased after your friends or jumped

                  rope?

            6.   Does it make sense for you to revisit that place as

                  it does for me in placing myself back in our

                  ordinary yard?

            7.   Remember yourself as a child somehow, even if it

                  hurts. Look at you now.

© 2013 Allan Cox, Allan Cox & Associates Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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