First Person
Remember
by Lawrence Miller
August 8, 2007

Remember

Rides in the country

Cheap gas

That Sunday drive on a hot summer's day

Stopping for some ice cream or a snowball

How good a cold soda felt when you were thirsty

Going "Home" to visit family

Joining in at the harvest

Fresh milk, fruit plucked right off the tree

Nobody worried about how much you ate

Grandmothers pies and cakes

Licking the spoon and bowl out after they finished mixing

Long hot summers days

Playing with friends

Playing with cousins

Family cookouts (we didn't call them reunions then)

Taking the bus (grayhound) back home

You didn't know you were poor

You just lived

I remember

The good and the bad

Doing something wrong

Having to get the switches off the bush

Grandma swatting me

Then telling me not to do that again

And later giving me a special treat

Showing how much she loved me

I remember

Not stopping at some places

Because we (Blacks) were not welcome

I didn't understand

But I remember

Being amoung some of the first blacks in some resorts

The looks we got

The mummers as they looked at us

The look on my fathers' face

Proud to be there

Throwing it back at them

I remember

The love for family

The respect for elders

The joy of life

A simple life

I remember

Do you?


About the author:

I am a regular listener to prairie home companion and volunteer at my local station. I enjoy writing poetry. Though I have not published as of yet. I would be honered if Mr. Keillor would take the time to read some of my works. I listen to his readings nightly and would value his critism highly. I get my inspiration for writing from the past and present, what I see around me. And the events that happen to me. As a Black man my views on life come from having lived and learned. I love the values Mr Keillor voices in the program. And though I am not a luthern I am a methodist and there is not much difference in my book.



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