SPRING AND SUMMER...1960

it was all about flying kites,
playing marbles,
baseball.
we had "pick up" games.
we didn't wear uniforms,
or have coaches.
there were no parents to please,
or yell at us.
we were on our own.
the kids decided the rules.
we did chin-ups and pull-ups in the park.
we ran on the old cinder track.
we built soap box race cars.
we garbaged picked Chicago alleys for neat stuff.
we cashed in bottles for bubble gum.
we rewarded ourselves for our work,
with bottles of old dutch root beer,
and chocolate-covered, frozen bananas.
there also were chores to do:
cutting grass, washing windows,
weeding gardens, and painting fences.
we never talked back to our parents.
we always listened to their rules.
i remember my mom giving me 12 cents,
for the good humor ice cream truck.
it rang its bell in our neighborhood at night.
I ran blocks to catch it sometimes.
i liked the raspberry-lime popsicles.
we ate as a family at dinner.
everyone had to be there.
we said grace before every meal.
we went to bed when our parents told us it was time.
we never argued because we were tired from exercise,
but we were happy.
in my day, most kids weren't out of shape.
we ate all the junk food we wanted.
we didn't have Ipods, video games, cell phones, or computers.
we didn't need them.
few of us need shrinks, or drug rehabilitation programs.
our parents would'a killed us!