48. Childhood [100 poems challenge]

48.          Childhood

When the world was bigger
And the sky bluer
Adventures required
Just a small patch of bush
With places to hide;
Or a sloping street
Where we’d fly downhill
Jammed inside a pram—
No brakes, just a rope,
And faith it would hold.

When the world was bigger
And holidays longer
A shack at the beach
Was a brand new country;
An unmarked road
An expedition
To the great unknown,
While creeks flowed only
For damming and waterwheels.

When the world was bigger
And hugs all-encompassing
Hurts could be healed
With a Band-Aid and kiss;
Scowls were a consequence
Of muddy clothes
But the clothes were washed anyway
While the bestest foods
In the entire universe
Were egg-and-bacon pie
And chocolate pudding.

7 June 2013

Comments: Before I started this one I was a bit annoyed that this list has some pairs of similar topics placed close together (see 46. Family), but, as it happened, once I got started it evolved in its own quite separate direction, and I’m fairly happy with the outcome. There are a few incidents highlighted in the account. Our next door neighbours had a pedal car that we sometimes used for risk-taking, but there was one occasion where we jammed one of us into an old pram and set off downhill tethered to a rope which was supposed to swing the pram into the driveway. Amazingly this succeeded, although the pram kind of collapsed in on itself (and the poor incumbent — can’t remember who). With rare wisdom we decided not to try this again. These same neighbours were also involved in the invention of the game “Pile On” which is pretty self-explanatory, and the cause of one especially muddy set of clothes thanks to an excellent mud puddle in one corner of their front lawn (and given how fussy their parents were about the lawn, I suspect I wasn’t the only one encountering scowls). Following unmarked roads is a long-running family tradition, as is egg-and-bacon pie (we had some last week when I was on the East Coast with Mum and Dad) and chocolate self-saucing pudding.

Themes to come: 49. Stripes; 50. Breaking the Rules; 51. Sport; 52. Deep in Thought; 53. Keeping a Secret

Explanation about the 100 poems challenge here.