In the Shade of Summers Long Past

In The Shade Of Summers Long Past.

It was a ramshackle porch

in the Brairdale projects

offered to war veterans

and their families

with a prize of cheaper rent.

and it sat catty-cornered

across the street from

my own shabby, smaller porch.

but to me it was a

balcony at the Taj Mahal.

It was the one porch we

gravitated to basically

because I was so enamored

by what was beyond the porch

on the other side of

its front door

The neighbor kids all

gathered there to

talk and play,

but she lived there!!"

the most stunning

girl I ever knew.

she was my girl next door

at least I was

hoping she would be.

in our hood where there were

thirty kids per every block

and a lot of them guys.

She had a plethera of

males to choose from.

She also had almond shaped,

baby blue eyes,

and lovely blonde curls,

plus a laugh that would crinkle

her dimples around the most

beautiful porcelain smile.

She would tease me

cause she knew I loved her,

asking if I'd marry her? or

Did I know how babies were made?

and other things like that.

She loved how I would blush

and stand there helplessly

fumbling for the right answers.

I wrote her over

one hundred poems

and so many notes,

hoping I could woo her

with my penciled wit.

but we both knew

where we were headed.

The better side of the tracks

would not be found just

across the street from

her house with little ol' me.

She being several years younger,

and me being just a project kid

with little hope at success.

But what wonderful days we shared

and she was always much more

than just a friend to me.

If I could have stood time still

I woud still be there enraptured

in her perfection but.....

It only lasted about eight years

back when fate graced me with her

most astounding presence,

and then they tore

the projects down

and we were all split up

by societies demands for the

removal of an eyesore.

But I would give eight years

of my life to be back

on that rickety railing

with her by my side,

laughing and teasing

and her flashing that look

that sucked the air out

of my lungs and that

made my heart do

kick flips over my ribs.

First love is

truly the best love

and unduly the worst love,

too often a cursed love

because it is fated to

always be just our first love,

beginners luck

which usually winds up

failing to be anything more.

I only saw her a few times after that

once when I was in the Marines,

home on leave and she sold me

a couple of burgers at McDonalds

and I found out she had a boyfriend

so I went back to my duties.

One other time in

a restaraunt where

she was with her guy

and I was with my girl

and we said polite hellos

and digested all that

could have been

between our appetizers

and our main course

which sadly was

in two different directions

come time to go.

Sometimes I can still see us

sitting out in her backyard

in her huge, willow tree

cradled in the branches

that formed a large room.

just her and I sharing

a summer, long since

faded to the winter

of being older, colder,

and so distant from the

joys of youth unleashed.

Back when the world

was our lollipop,

and we were still suckers

enjoying the sweet tastes

of endless days ahead.

<><><><><>

D.N.

+

"Me"

<3<3

Always