REMINISCING SWEETER TIMES -Poetry
Do you remember the feeling of chalk, David
And the screeching sound it made pushed
Against the chalkboard?
Do you remember the erasers as they stirred up
Little dust storms of white powder
And the burning of pink erasers against misspelled words,
Back and forth, over the smell of freshly printed papers,
Still warm to the touch?
Do you remember the sound of assemblies, Dear David?
Do you remember the vibration of the metal chairs as we slid them across the industrial tile
And our eyes scanned the room for a glimpse of our special friends, who happened to be in separate classrooms
And the staring eyes fixed on stone-faced teachers as they made their way around the room
And avoiding those eyes, constantly feeling as if we had done something wrong?
Do you remember the lingering smell of lunch urine as you watched the fifth graders on the stage, singing about the fifty nifty United States, secretly hoping to grow older for your own turn?
Do you remember the play yard, which seemed ginormous with its fields and grass for chasing each other, and the playground with slides that burned your skin
And sand that made its way into every crevice and the treasures beneath if you just dug deep enough
And the rubber balls and jump ropes
And the bullies always just out of sight of the duty teachers?
Do you remember how badly we wanted to grow up, to leave it all behind, to become part of the league of big kids?
Do you remember how desperate we were to leave?
Now David, what I wouldn’t give to return, to return to the good-old days, days with hardly a care.
Don’t you agree, David? Wouldn’t you like to return with me to a time of innocence and to a time when you were still alive?
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Reminiscing Sweeter Times
by Stephanie Daich
https://stephdaich3.wixsite.com/phoenix-z-publishing
