“Spellman” Street Days
My Younger Days Kind of Remind Me of the “Peanut’s” Comics
(Special Thanks to the “Peanuts” Comic strip which helped to inspire this Poem.)
A simple place that I once knew…
A childhood place…that is so much a part of you.
The laughing kids out in the yard who play…
So much different from how it is today.
A Summer Day…in the hot Summer’s heat…
You’d find us playing…up and down our whole street.
Gather up the gang for a trip to the local “7-11” store…
Load up on Candy, “Slurpee’s”, Baseball cards with gum…in a pack of four.
Ride your bike down the Motocross Hill…as you travel on your way…
What the heck…is your hurry…stay here and ride the rest of the day.
A real-life “Peanut’s Gang” with dog and all…Hanging out at “The Field’s” Wall…
Someone screams from down the street…”Let’s start a game…I brought the ball!”
Hours spent out at “The Field”…. playing a baseball or football game…”Down, Set, Hike!”
Great place for Dodgeball (With “The Field’s” Wall) …or in March…to go fly (or dogfight) a kite.
Don’t forget the bicycles which took us from block to block…I had a “Schwinn”…
Get that heavy “Banana seat w/ Chopper bars” metal thing going…as you pedal hard into the wind.
“Wheelies”, bicycle ramps…and riding with “No hands” to impress a cute little girl…
Funny what things come to mind…as the memory reel in my mind…starts to whirl.
For “Hide N’ Go Seek” the whole block joined in…”Out of Bounds” was inside a house or past the fence line.
The little neighborhood sat at the pasture’s edge…at the end of town…
At night…by the little bayou to the pasture…we sat…and watched the sun go down.
We’d catch turtles and crawdads there…and every now and then…see a snake.
“Whoops!” I just pushed you in…When you get home…Tell your Mom it was my mistake.
At the house on Spellman…How many times did I run across that porch in a chase?.
That shady porch…playing with “Matchbox” cars and “Hot Wheels” (Oh And, “G.I. Joe”)…that’s where I spent my younger days.
Maybe we would all get bored with that…and head out to the Park’s public pool…
Summers went on and on…and then again…so did School!
Each season doesn’t escape your life…of everything…your little size is keenly aware…
Vietnam, Moon Landing, Watergate, Civil Rights, Conservation, Hippies with long hair.
Summer had “Water balloon fights” and “Slip N’ Slides”…Winter was rerun shows on Black and White T.V.
Each Season in Time…went by like Clockwork…a Kid sees all these things so wonderfully…
Looking back…It could never again be like that…Left like that only in my memory…
This was my only world that I knew at the time…though small…it was big enough for me.
When I stopped at your curb on a trip down Memory Lane…There was a “For Sale” sign in the yard.
What is it with me and places of long ago…Why do I try to bring back the past…It’s too damn hard!
But, on this nostalgic binge…I find nothing but pure joy…as I reached out to touch the same old front door…
I remember that door with the mail slot-built in… It was the last thing I touched…back in 1974.
What could a grown man say of this place…without sounding so hopelessly silly?
An Empty house now with the backyard gate wide-open…Unreal…I’m walking back to when I was a child…
The Back Yard’s still there…Although some things have changed…It is still like the memory I have filed.
The Garage has no Basketball Goal on the roof…or my Dad’s weight set inside…So, I see…
The Big Swing Set long gone…and where my treehouse once sat…is now a really huge tree!
I see remnants of a small garden my Mom once had…Though there’s weeds…The border is still there.
How many days did I spend in this Back Yard here…Barefoot in the grass…Without a care?
Looking in through the Laundry Room door…I see all the way inside to what was our Kitchen…
For once I can see it with my own eyes…I’m almost there…instead of from dreams…or things I was wishin’.
Oh…of things that we remember with fondness…that help to define us…because of our history.
Suffice it to say that I lived long enough to come back here…Where I’m very happy to say…
I’m grateful this ol’ House is still OK and that we once lived here…Way back in the day!
Playing some serious Football with no pads…was the best!
A real life “Peanut’s Gang” with dog and all…Hanging out at “The Field’s” Wall…
“For once I can see it with my own eyes…I’m almost there…instead of from dreams…or things I was wishin’.”
@Pinterest: Charlie Brown and Peanuts playing baseball | Snoopy love, Charlie Brown
Bring a Ball…Play all Day!
Thanks for reading: “Spellman” Street Days
Humble Regards, ManlyPoetryMan
© 2009 ManlyPoetryMan
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For more great works like this one…keep an eye on Steve Walters’ author page to see what’s next for The Creative Exiles:
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Enough of that intro. It is really great to be writing here on: "The Creative Exiles". I am lining up some of my best writings for this website. Going to "Bring-it" with a variety of "Poetic-able" Topics. So just kick back and enjoy some of the Poetry I send out to you. It’s all for “Entertainment” purposes only…so all you will have to do is read and enjoy my writings.
And, I really hope you do!
Now, it is time for me to go and write in a "Poet-icized" manner like those long ago “Men of Old” Poets would’ve once long ago done it. They have primarily inspired me to write Poems in a manner that is “Manly” like how they use to write Poetry.
Please stay tuned for more of my Poetry works.
Best and Humble Regards, Steve Walters
(Or the Artist still known as: Manlypoetryman)
- Days of “Moving Along” - December 5, 2023
- What Words Will We Write - November 22, 2023
- “Spellman” Street Days - October 23, 2023
This was a reading experience to cherish. First of all, I love The Peanuts. Second, what a trip down memory lane. Thank you Steve. Jamie
Thanks for reading this one and getting into the “Spirit” of the Poem…’Cause it was definitely a stroll down Memory Lane. What else what we write about if it weren’t for the things that shaped us, changed us, and made us who we are from the things we cherish? (Even if it was a very long time ago…)
Thanks for the memories… growing up was so different those days. Great piece here Steve =, keep up the good work.
Thanks for reading this one, Kurt!
This blog deserves all the praise for its unwavering positivity. Love it!