Back Porch

 

The Back Porch      (Childhood Details Collection)

One of my favorite places when I was young

Our back porch a place for fun

The old white swing with a hundred thousand miles

Back and forth it went and the squeak was loud

Shelling peas snapping beans cutting apples for a pie

And then squealing with delight as I sailed on by

For three generations we used the chairs

Metal ones blue and yellow outlasted my time there

Traveled all the way to my house when Mom needed care

Haircuts on the stool while stories were told

Grapes eaten from bunches eating all I could hold

Under the porch our lawn mowers kept

Not power but push ‘cause the grass never slept

The trellis on the end covered with vines

Morning Glory blossoms opened each morning time

Two concrete steps led up from the sidewalk

A wide metal scraper helped me get the mud off

A place for my bike to stay out of the rain

When I got my new one with shiny chrome and bling

My pop stretched out after a hard day of working

Seemed like the back porch was perfect for relaxing

Before the time of cool air conditioning

The back porch was the place on cool summer evenings

*****************************************

*Photo from the family album:

~Me sitting on the back porch step at age 2:

~My oldest brother holding my youngest brother in front of the back porch & cistern

*Photo of Morning Glory  – Dwight L. Roth