At Sly Park Poem by Raj Dronamraju

Introducing children to nature
And nature refused the introduction
Played coy around the campfire
And one of the counselors told us a ghost story in our bunks while another one hid outside
Pressed his face to a window to terrify us when the story reached the scary part

A boy from the city with a physical disability
Used a lot of four letter words and said things about our families
But we couldn't say anything back to him because the girls all felt sorry for him and defended him

We got lost in the woods and soaked through to our skin
Pranksters stole our clothes while we were in the showers
Never saw the sun over four days, clouds and rain but still told to bless nature

They tried to have a bonfire the last night but it was too wet
They said there were bears but no one saw any bears
Everything I took with me got caked with mud
I caught the flu and it turned into bronchitis and I missed two weeks of school after we came back home