Childhood

[Robert Harrison]

Submitted by Ann Gettins

I remember when I was a child,
The sun rose high and the winds were mild,
I played with friends, and had a real ball
I had very few worries hardly any at all.
My parents I loved dearly and my sisters too,
There was always enjoyment and something to do.
We played Fire Can, and Tip Cat, and made up plays,
In those far off, remembered, halcyon days.
O that once again a child I could be
To sit and chat on my fathers knee,
Or to sit in the garden with Mom, in the shade
Whilst the blackbird His songs and his warblings made.
To smell the blossoms of flowers bush and tree,
These are wonderful things that used to be.
Those days I remember those, great yester years,
When my father stood nightly at the foot of the stairs
To help and protect me cos of the dark I was scared
So would leave me with lights on so that fear I was spared
With Mom I would go to the shops to fetch food
And she would buy me a book when in a good mood,
And I would sit by the fire and read all the day,
Till the light was turned on and the dark kept at bay.
This, of course, was in winter when snow spread its pall,
We would play in the snow and make snowman and ball.
And make slippery slides and we hardly would fall.
Then would  go in to tea and stews smell would enthral.
Yes, they were wonderful, those childhood climes,
And their memories live on, full of happiest times.