School Chums

By Dan O’Connor

Do you remember the jangle of the school bell?
copper with a black wooden handle
Do you remember our parents calling us in from play?
“Danny!  Danny!  It’s time for dinner!”

How about the snowflakes pure on the tongue?
tasteless, white, exhilarating

Do you remember the gray colored slush in the gutters?
the rust from our sled skids stamped onto the first snowpack

How about the ice skates two sizes too small
witnessing our remarkable growth over the summer?

And the corn shocks
knocked over by our boys
     out of mischief
     out of spite
     out of confusion

Do you remember our time together?
precious, but fleeting

when our roots were just sinking into the soil
and our leaf buds were yet to open?

I do!

Seasons greetings

& holiday blessings,

From the author
http://www.danoconnor.com