Cotopaxi, Ecuador (summer 2012)

Monday, February 15, 2021

only the basketball players grew tall

watching my home town

being small

where only the basketball players grew tall

stretching for the morning sun

which seemed out of reach

when there was no one left to teach

along slow-moving Market street

where it was always easy to meet

your best girl and her friends

on a summer day

heading for the afternoon pool

no one was a fool

if they knew where the hardware store sat

and the five and dime

which stood the test of time

on a Friday night when we tried on gloves

just for something important to do

it's what we felt sure we knew

like learning how to drive underneath the back road stars

when we thought the world would become ours

or hiding in the community park

on a Saturday night after dark

bouncing on the trampoline

waiting for the back flip to be seen

by the next homecoming queen

one traffic light and a dress shop with mannequins 

behind a glass window

most everything I know

watching my home town

one circus and one traveling clown

they could stop but never did

it's like the whole wide world hid

watching my home town

being small

where only the basketball players grew tall

stretching for the morning sun

which seemed out of reach

when there was no one left to teach

along slow-moving Market street

where it was always easy to meet

your best girl and her friends

on a summer day

heading for the afternoon pool

no one was a fool

looking around

listening for a soulful sound,

waiting for the walls

to fall,

watching my hometown

being small.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please leave your thoughts.

Jessica in Madrid, Spring 2006

Jessica in Madrid, Spring 2006
daughter is empowering herself