Memories

I remember the fields

Grasses swaying gently in the breeze

And flowers, like fragrant islands

Amid the sea of green

The trees were like pyramid towers

Reaching high into the sky

I remember sitting in their branches

Imagining how it felt to fly

And then there was our river

The little stream to the mill

I'll never forget our mountain

Uncle Tom's backyard hill

The old jalopy in our garden

Was a race car, sleek and mean

Or a rocket to the heavens

Or a ship upon the sea

I remember spending hours

Jumping rocks in our little stream

Or running madly through the fields

Chasing butterflies, wild and free

Sometimes we would go fishing

Knowing the fish would never bite

Or play cops and robbers

From morning through day's end fading light

Then at night, from on our mountain

As we looked down over our world

We'd talk about how lucky we were

To have riches, exceeding gold or pearls

For we had an unending freedom

Even more than our share of thrills

And though I can't relive them

I have my memories still

© August 7, 1982