Back In The Days Poem by Mustafa Marconi

Reminiscing about the old days
The good old days
Playing R.C.K.,
Ringoleavio
Hot peas and butter,
Johnny on the pony
Bellbottoms and Afros
A little O'Jays,
Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes
Stylistics, Chilites,
Spinners and Blue Magic
When mother were mothers
Fathers, fathers
And communities, communities
A family;
One large interwoven family

Reminiscing about the old days
When little girls were supposed to act
Like little girls
And little boys like little boys
When parents did everything it seemed
With complete discretion
When two men fought
Hand to hand
Toe to toe,
Man to man
And lived to talk about it another day
When a token was 35 cents
And a Blackman could hail a cab
When fathers pounded discipline
Into their children
And mothers comforted everyone
In their dire moments
When you could borrow a cup of sugar
And not be ashamed of your poverty

Reminiscing about old friends
Many I haven't seen for a long, long time
Saddened to hear that many have passed away
Or that some are incarcerated
Even sadder to hear that many who are well off
Or doing fairly decent
Have turned their backs on what used to be
So precious, so pure and so humbling
It feels good to see that many of us
Are still around
Sound in health and mind
Some struggling, some not
But here we are
In this new era
This new day and time A testament to love, faith and perseverance
Hoping to see you all again
Ten, twenty, fifty years from now
So we can all get together
Embrace each other with Honor and respect
And reminisce about the old days
And those wonderful and precious time