You know it’s a long time
when they can’t remember
W H E N
It was severely impromptu
but
I went swimming on my day off
with two of my granddaughters
I’ve done it before. . .
waaaaaaaaaaay before any of us could actually
RE-MEMBER
the last time it took place
S W I M M I N G
and it was
m a g i c a l
I made a magnificent discovery:
In mere seconds
I lost well over 50 years
by jumping in the water
splashing
dunking
throwing kids through the air
doing my classic version of
S H A M U
by laying back in the water and pounding my leg down
to make a huge splash and small tidal wave
Other kids were joining in
splashing
dunking
wanting to get thrown through the air
and
yes
S H A M U ‘ E D
I was
literally. . .
quite the
S P L A S H
As I got out of the pool during
“R E S T T I M E”
it was the years that dripped off of me
more than the water droplets.
I was suddenly 8 again
and as I SHAMU’ED the kids
and became the hated
POOL SHARK
my heart beat as a little boy
that shivered under the
ice-cold blast of a water hose
and begged for a BIG PRETZEL
and a KLONDIKE BAR
like all of the kids did around the
s n a c k b a r.
It reminded me of one of my favorite poems
by James Kavanaugh
LITTLE BOY I MISS YOU
Little boy, I miss you, with your sudden smile and
Your ignorance of pain
You walked in Life and devoured it–without anything
But misty goals to keep you company
Your heart beat mightily when you chased frogs
And captured one too big for a single hand
You wandered with friends in quiet woods and were
Startled by a shuffling porcupine
Matches were a mystery that lighted fires and
Chewed up leaves in savage hunger
There was no time for meaning–a marshmallow gave it
On a sharpened stick
A jackknife in your pocket provided comfort when your
Friends were gone
A flower in the woods hidden by an aging,
Shriveled log
A dog who danced and licked at your fingers and
Chewed your jeans
A game of football you didn’t expect
A glass of cider, a cricket’s cry
When did you lose your eyes and ears, when did taste
buds cease to tremble;
Whence this sullenness, this mounting fear, this quarrel
With life–demanding meaning?
The maddening search is leisure’s bonus–the Pain
that forbids you be a boy!
I lost well over 50 plus years in mere moments. . .
hoping that it takes longer. . .
much longer
for it all to seep
back into place again. . .
as it always
d o e s
Until then. . .
C A N N O N B A L L
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