Summer Days

 

 

SUMMER DAYS

 

 

 

We’d climb to the top of the cherry tree

And taste its fruit, my brother and me.

Then off we’d go for another treat

Of apples and berries and other things sweet.

And roam the fields where the strawberries grew

In waist high grass where the meadow larks flew.

To chase the butterflies here and there

And spend the summer with hardly a care.

We played baseball games in a vacant lot

And sat in the shade when it got too hot.

Drank RC cola with chunks of ice.

Boy, those summer days were nice.

Then we rode our bikes to the fishin’ hole

And dangled a worm from an old cane pole.

Teased crawdads hiding under a rock

Watched geese fly by in a “v” shaped flock.

Played made up games from just after dawn

Stayed out all day, till the street lights came on.

We sat on the the porch and cleaned tar from our feet.

And climbed into bed on freshly washed sheets.

I remember well Uncle Danny’s farm,

Where we played in the corn and roamed through the barn.

Drew cold fresh water right out of the well,

And the baritone voice of the old dinner bell.

Ice cream socials with good things to eat

Like the homemade ice cream cold and sweet

And other treats that were lovingly baked.

We ate so much our stomachs ached.

Drive in movies on warm summer nights.

The concession stand with all sorts of delights.

Double features with big name stars,

And sneaking in friends in the trunks of our cars.

There’s so, much more that I could say

About those days that have passed away

But all of the others remain a part

Of the cherished memories I hold in my heart.

And now that so many years have passed

I don’t recall that I’ve ever asked,

But since we’ve gone our separate ways

Do you, like me miss those summer days.

R. D. Bruss

‘08