Battles waged at Marco’s pizza parlor
Space Invaders fueled by Mellow Yellow and quarter dollars
A stop at Franklin’s for Chocolate malts and baseball cards
Then a detour home through neighborhood yards
Milk money saved for a pack of Topp’s
Hacking the phone booth to make it ring non-stop
A tube-topped hitchhiker looking for a ride
Another car crash where Bobby died
Bundles of The Blade waiting in stacks
Break them out—roll em up—and fill up the sacks
On my fire-orange Huffy with the banana seat
Visiting the zookeeper on Shasta Street
Sledding down the Cradle at Highland Park
Playing kick-the-can after dark
Falling through the ice near the sea-green bridge
A bottle of red pop from the slide-opened fridge
A cone at Nettie’s on a warm summer night
Eclairs and jellyballs were a weekend delight
Dinging the service station riding our bikes
As we stop into Cromley’s for some Mike & Ikes
Garbagemen bash trash cans and whistle away
The beer trucks come through as we’re trying to play
Neighbors dressed up on Sunday morning
As St. Charles chimes it’s warning
Train whistles carry from seventeen tracks
As cicada resonate while mosquitos attack
Fireflies travel from other dimensions
The ice cream truck jingle steals our attention
In the Red Catalina on the way to “Chicago”
Anticipation and excitement our only cargo
To grandma’s, the quarry, or Daytona Beach?
We’d never know until our destination was reached
We drive by McQueen’s orchard, a familiar landmark
To a sign that says Salisbury Quarry Recreation Park
Through Batman’s secret driveway to where a Griss girl waves
We park as the sun burns up the haze
The corduroy beach leads down to blue glass
As we approach the familiar cast
Charlie and company in our usual spot
Where we run from towel to towel when the sand gets too hot
The rocker and bobber and rafts dot the scene
With a backdrop of clifftops topped off with green
Blue sky competes with water so clear
While the jukebox asks what song we want to hear
Freebird plays to bikini clad gangs
Volleyball victories and horseshoe clangs
We swim to the bobber and start to climb
When The lifeguard pipes “one at a time!”
Lunch at the car in some much needed shade
As we eat pee-bee jays and drink grape Kool-Aid
Slow Ride plays as we eat our snack
Then tetherball smacks as we make our way back
We walk over the sand, all skinny and tanned
Cool air from the window of the concession stand
Down to the water for another cool dip
Then to the dive tower for a jump or a flip
Bluegill, Minnows, and perch dart about ya
“Aren’t you, barracuda?”
Oil skinned bodies on rafts span your view
“Do you, you, feel like I do? Yes ya do.”
As the sun arcs downward we make our way home
With a pit stop at Penguin for an ice cream cone
Or a cheeseburger and a pop at the Albon Inn
Goodbye, and goodnight until we meet here again.
JArtB
FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2019 AT 05:59