A Simpler Time

There was a time….
A few of us still remember
When men wore pocket watches
And arranged ascots around their collars,
And women their blooms in their feathered hats
Attended by pink parasols;
And we as eight or ten year olds
In argyle socks and suspenders and rolled up sleeves
All dressed to the nines
For the family picnic in the park.

And Ma’s hearth bread, scored and baked,
Fresh-made lemonade in a cut glass pitcher,
And hand-made napkins with scalloped trim,
And a book
When the occasional moment permitted.
Always on call
For the spontaneous gift
Of a Blue Wood Aster or Goldenrod
Rooted in eternal hugs that would come again and again.

Go. Catch a fish. Fly!
I’ll show you just once more.
Pa gripped the tall pole with one length of twine
At the end of which dogged determination
Offered a tenuous meal
To a wide-eyed, hungry, growing boy.

These were the costumes, the roles we played
When we were children.
Amidst tree lines and flower borders,
An inhaled breath of fresh air by all,
Free of individual responsibility.
But now we’re grown up,
Or so we strive to be….
And complexity softens the sweet details of memory.
An exhaled sigh of relief
As we relive and release that remembrance of
A simpler time.