Space Quest, Long Ago Summer Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

we will do our homework on the moon,
we promised we would, that we'd be good
even without summer school

and drink Tang while spinning upwards
in our pineapple upside down cakewalk;
our green and blue hula hoops, respectively;

three scoops of strawberry, chocolate and vanilla are
requisite in the picture books but in real
life, it's spumoni we cry for every time!

or peppermint ice cream candy crunching pink;
and sliding on the slip and slide is cool, oh very cool.
do you think we can stay up late and watch

the Twilight Zone when we're grown?
and will we wear formals, satiny and the
colours of rare orchids and leave home?

or can we still be who we are
and read all summer;
swinging on the grass green swings in the yard

up to the Big Dipper;
noting the neon orange nasturtiums
cheering us on near the dog with the floppy ears

so very far below us then,
barking excitedly in silvery echoes
of our Let's Pretend.

mary angela douglas 29 june 2016