Yester Year Poem by James Casey

Yester Year

When I was young, say nine or ten
There were lots of things, we did back then
I'm talking about games like hide and seek
Gather around a pole that's where we'd meet

Popsicles had two sticks so you could share half
Mom stood on the front porch and whistled or yelled for you
Summer lasted forever, no air conditioning, no locked doors,
Open windows at night, the sound of crickets, that's what we'd do

The first day of school, bottle returns for candy at the stores
Saturday cartoons, On A Black and white TV,
The Lone Ranger Roy Rogers Cisco Kid, Howdy Doody
Bedtime prayers, kisses goodnight climbing trees

Rainy days, wet to the bone, snowy days, clothes frozen stiff,
Shovel the snow, weed the garden, pick flowers just for a sniff
We were dirt poor, but no one noticed, there were no hurt feelings
No allowance, find bottles for money to spend on important things

Like penny candy, black jack gum, wax lips, pretzels a foot long
When a parent could spank you, and no one noticed anything wrong
Basically we were afraid for our lives, not because of guns or attacks by others
But what our parents would do if we did wrong and give our butt some blisters

Race issues were about who could run the fastest for a ball, and the only thing
You got from a girl was cooties, and a foot of snow was worth remembering
I long for those gentle days when a water balloon was the ultimate weapon
In my heart, I know I cannot go back, but how those times do beckon

Jim 1965