Now that I'm grown,
I want to know
how I used to bareleg tramp
through unmown pastures
without getting so much as an itch,
what magic ingredient made Vick's
salve a cure-all in my Grannie's hands,
and when simple stray cats turned
so fearsome and feral.
For The Tuesday Platform at Real Toads
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
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About Me
- Maude Lynn
- Anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days. ---Flannery O'Connor
15 comments:
These lines made me think back on those days when everything seemed so effortless.. I remember there wasn't a tree I couldn't climb.
OMG. That is SO true about Vick's. I swear by that stuff. :) I could almost eat it, I love the scent so much! I smear it under my nose with my finger just so that I can sniff at it all the time.
All that and when it became unsafe for children to sit in front or someone to hold a baby in a car.
Yes.... when did that happen?
Carly Simon did a song called "It Was So Easy Then" or something like that (on the "You're So Vain" album... or was it called "No Secrets"?) Anyway, the lyrics went:
"I remember a time'
Romping through the woods
Sun against our skin instead of clothes
When we'd get hungry we would eat
(when we felt glad, we'd dance?)
and whenever we felt drowsy we would doze.
It was so easy then, holdin' hands without a plan
It was so easy then..."
I might have forgotten some of the lyrics, hence the parenthesis, but your poem reminded me of it.
Yeah, I walked barefoot along hot sidewalks when I was a kid. What in the world happened to me?
I used to hike the hills full of rattlesnakes alone and met nary a one....love the reminder about the Carly Simon song......perfect!
With age comes the knowledge of briars and bad-tempered strays. Would that we were younger again, eh? Tightly built and finely executed stuff.
Lovely--I have a very funny story about my daughter's wife getting bitten by poisonous fish in Amazon with Vicks. (My daughter is an environmental botanist, I guess you'd call it so gets to go crazy places.) Thanks MZ. Much enjoyed. k.
Nice reading, Mom Zee. Memories some, other things I learned. Barelegged hadn't bothered me, we, sister either, didn't do that. Mom, a city girl moved with Dad to his country, wouldn't let us go barefooted, we lived on a farm and she was afraid we might step on some broken glass. Funny, the dogs didn't get their feet cut, ever.
..
Those days of invincibility and unexplained magics... I think we all want to know.
Still use Vicks. Must be a global panacea. Sweet poem.
I want to know, just when did I grow? A wistful look back. When I walk through pastures, I try to avoid tall grass. Maybe I'm missing out.
through unmown pastures
without getting so much as an itch
It is so much fun to enjoy the freedom of times gone by. Especially so when nothing had caused unnecessary hindrance!
Hank
You know: I ask myself the same question. Its good to see it voiced.And as for Vicks; well i still swear by it
Wonderful write Mama!!!
Much love...
Good to know that Vicks is still working its magic all over the Western world! :)
You've summed up these mysteries with very well-chosen examples which it's evident we can all relate to.
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