[Joebill]

poem: I remember The Long Ago...

I remember in the long ago,
watching the very first,
Captain Kangaroo show.

Ernie Kovacs was funny and thoughful.

I remember the first landings,
on the Earth's Moon,
my first most excellent hamburger,
watching 4 hours of cartoons,
at the movie theater for the princely sum,
of 25 cents.

Of being paid 50 cents a sack,
walking beside me mother,
as we both gleaned snap beans,
in a field and under a hot fall sun,
so we could have a bit of money,
I was 3 years old,
and being told recently,
I never worked a hard day in my life.

I just smiled and told them they were wrong,
and ignoring them further,
went back to work.

I remember the first time,
long ago when someone demanded,
twenty-five cents a week,
as protection money, in other words,
he wouldn't beat me up.

And I laughed in his face,
evidently a new sensation for him,
being laughed at.

I never paid, and he went to jail,
when he beat up a friend,
so as to intimidate me.

I remember the words from Long Ago,
'God Speed John Glenn !'

And the first steps,
a giant one for Mankind,
upon our Moon.

I remember Long Ago,
standing in my grandparent's backyard,
and looking up at the Night Sky,
seeing my first shooting star,
and the glow from the Milky Way !

I remember the 8 inch Dobsonian Reflector,
I purchased years ago and my first personal look,
at the mountains and craters of our Moon,
with my own eyes,
and not just a photo in a book.

Or the first time I got lost on a camping trip,
we had wandered around, about 6 of us,
it was a new area we had never camped in before.

When someone asked, 'Were is camp ?",
and the panic that ensued.

But I remembered what we had been taught,
I sat down, and collected my thoughts,
I declared "We are not lost !"

The rest looked at me like I had lost my senses.

"We are not on the Moon, nor Mars, or Venus,
We are in the central time zone, In Texas,
we have to be in the same county,
there hasn't been enough time for us to have wandered too far.

Listen !"

We heard highway sounds, dimly.

Well, there was a highway to the north,
and a minor county road to the east.

We knew we were on the south side,
of a small river.

I pointed all that out,
and we were back in camp,
less than 30 minutes later.

Oh, I remember Long Ago,
when the 25 cent candy bar disappeared,
and comics no longer cost 10 cents,
and movies cost the astounding price,
of sixty-five cents.

Seems cheap these days.

Ah well, Time Marches On,
but I remember the Long Ago,
and Far Away.

[ exit ]