nostalgia comp

First entry into competition NOSTALGIA
THOSE CHILDHOOD DAYS”

I yawned, and stretched,
And gave contented sighs,
As I rubbed my face, and hastened to rise,
All lay before me,
Birdsong fills the air,
It lifted my spirits,
As I lay looking at the sky.

I hurried down and eat my fill,
And rushed to greet the air,
The orchard filled my body
With natures noisy sounds,
Song birds in the fruit trees
Entertained me with chirps and trills.
As they fed courtesy of the Slaters
Until they’d had their fill.

I was ready to adventure
To test my secret shield
Bloodied by all the battles
Where I’d vanquished all my foes
To return the conquering hero
Without taking a single blow.

The caterwauling screams of friends
Dare you, Dare you,
Start a fight?
The sickening fear, like a choking gall,
Come on, Come on,
Easily distracted,
Lets play ball?

Happy, dirty, grazed knees days
In age grows fainter, as in a haze
Apples, cherries, plums, and pears?
Remember fighting on the stairs?
Remember sharing that great big bed?
Remember all those things you said?

Tess and Ross and the Shanghai kids
fighting Roman fights
behind dustbin lids
We played pretend games
Of love and war
Tom mix, Roy Rogers
We all adored.

The air was fresh
The grass smelled true
As we rough and rowdied
And got black and blue
We kicked and conkered
And `I bags you`
As we played and played
The whole day through.

Ah, those lovely childhood days.

second entry
I remember

I remember

The awkwardness,

The growing pain

That gawky way

My body

Changed each day

Unanswered questions

Dealing with love

Emotional ways,

Intensely, with hate

Spots that plagued me

On neck and face

Disorderly clothes

All over the place

Older folk demanding

Obey our rules

Appearing insane

Speaking wise words

We listened like fools

We ignorant children

Confusedly driven

Disorderly glands

To wild music Congregating

By bands enchanted

We chanted and ranted

And frightened our parents

Colourful clothes

Freshly filled us with hope

While newspaper headlines

Warned of wars and dope

We grew and we grew

Just to damn them

Damn them

We abandoned religion

Adventurously smoking

Discussed girls and kissing

And the sex that was missing

The fear of rejection

And the hopes for success

Brought out our worst

And brought out our best

Edmund Forte 2007