Saturday, August 18, 2012

My Neighborhood

Niobe

Narrow black snake
meanders the valley
sinuous through town
one store, our store
we were the big banana

Railroad tracks bound
each end of town
no parents checking
on anything
free

In school we did air raid drills
hide under your desk
arms over your head
our parents spotted for 
enemy planes

The world was not safe

we were good kids
played good kid games
in the land before time
baseball, hide-n-seek
blind man’s bluff


Written for Mary's Mixed Bag: Imaginary Garden With Real Toads, where the prompt was Neighborhood.

4 comments:

  1. Willow, I get the idea that your neighborhood was a very small and safe town with no dangers lurking within, you (and others) were taught that the world was an unsafe place! What a mixed message for a child.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Willow, I'm glad you grew up in such a neighborhood, playing the beloved games of yore. I remember those air raid drills, hiding under the desk, arms protecting head. Talk about a false sense of security. And I agree with Mary, what a mixed message for a child.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Odd isn't it, in the 160's we were taught to hide under the table or stairs in case of war, and the world seemed a much safer place then than it does these days. We are so lucky to live on an island here where there is hardly any serious crime occurs but, even here times are changing too. Lovely little peek at your childhood and safe neighbourhood.

    ReplyDelete
  4. All familiar and brought a tear. As a child I don't think we worried much although my dad was a civil defense volunteer in St. Paul. Later I think we just became fatalistic....

    ReplyDelete