The ugliness of this storefront
Does not diminish the long-held memories
Of climbing those steps as an eight-year -old.
Lunch hour at our elementary school
Gave us time to cross the streetcar tracks…
To go to Serafino’s store to spend a nickle or a penny.
Inside a big case with slanted glass
Allowed us to view all the many choices
Every variety of candy tempted our tastebuds:
Fireballs, cinnamon sticks, and Sugar Daddies
Licorice tubes in a box, wax teeth, candy cigarettes
Necco Wafers, wax bottles of sugar water in a box
Good and Plenty, red licorice, and candy bars…
So many to choose from for our little minds
Yes, the store may be closed
…run down
…and boarded up
But the wonderful joy of climbing those steps
Still brings a smile to my face.
Memories see things as they were
Not as they are
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Today on d’verse Mish asked us to look at the beauty in ugliness. We are to write a poem showing a different perspective on what most people would consider ugly. This Fall I went back to my old elementary school and saw it was now a home where someone lived. This is the store where we used to go at lunch to get candy, if we hand any money to spend. It is now boarded up and looking pretty bad. But the memories are still there.
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Roth Poetry 
the battered front never changed how you felt about this place. that is so true about memories, they take us back to a time when we can still picture the beauty of what was. love when you write from your childhood.
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Thanks Gina. When we go back we know it won’t be the same… it is the memories we are chasing!
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so true Dwight. the older I get I want to preserve these memories in an air tight jar. the poetry, stories and especially the haibun we write is a lovely way to keep all these beautiful memories.
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Write for now … Write for the future!
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And those memories will last forever and it will always hold a special meaning for you
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Yes, when everything else goes , I will still be telling this story!! Thanks Beth.
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Yes, we way we remember them – happy memories too, not the way they look now. Love the recollections of those candies – so many choices to make the kids happy.
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Now they get carrots and celery! Thanks Grace!
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Candy cigarettes. Can you imagine that now. How times change. Sometimes I wish I could look ahead to 50 years from now.
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It might really shock you!! Thanks Len.
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A beautiful poem about the power of memories and the history of what once was. Just because the building is boarded up now doesn’t diminish the fact that it was important to you in your childhood. It mattered. Thank you for sharing, Dwight.
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Thank you Jade! You are right. Great memories! Thanks for reading and for commenting!
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Such good memories. Bittersweet, I’m sure, to see the old places boarded up.
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Can’t ever take away the good memories! Thanks.
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Time may tear down man made stores, but the hands of hours wont be able to rob it of its memories and stories. Beautiful, Dwight!
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Yes, it will stay with us in our minds and give us joy each time we remember. Thank You!
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I agree. So true. You’re welcome, Dwight!
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The memories we hold are more beautiful than the sight we see, but nothing can take away the warmth it provided.
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Yes, that is so good!
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Memories see things as they were, not are. Love your take on this prompt. I LOVED wax teeth! Made me smile😁
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The joy of memory is being able to paint the present with the past! Thanks Lillian
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I love this Dwight! Some things we just always see the beauty!
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Especially when there are sentimental memories tied to it. Thanks.
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I share your “wonderful joy” of frequenting our own version of your “Serafino’s store.” Your poem brings back the memory of my childhood cravings of the candy on display.
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It was something very special to be able to go by myself and make a choice of candy from behind the big glass case.
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Thank you Rosaline for your comment!
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Love how memories can paint the ramshackle buildings… and a candy store has to be the best memory there is.
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Thanks Bjorn, you are right. Those memories last for ever.!
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Lovely Dwight, memories certainly brings beauty to things that may no longer have beauty to the eyes…nicely done.
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Thank you so much! Memories repaint the past!
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I remember old buildings from my childhood. They seemed bigger back then, those that still remain.
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Everything seemed bigger back then. Thanks Frank.
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Those certainly were the good old days! It’s amazing how our memories can repair the run down building.
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Yes, and clear as a bell! Thank You!
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This resonates with me. I remember a very similar place. Your poem brought back memories of choosing individual penny candy with the leftover change my mother gave us to buy a loaf of bread. There’s a reason for that phrase…”like a kid in a candy store”! You embraced the prompt, finding the beauty of childhood within the decay.
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Thank you Mish! The fun an excitement outweights the ugly exterior that we see now. A kid in the candy store for sure!
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A building that was loved, that’s for sure 🙂 Such a neat post – it reminds me of an old store like that in my hometown. The old man who ran it was so kind, and he always sold candy to the kids for so cheap! When he died, they turned his building into a town historical society, I’m very glad because they keep it up nice!
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How nice! It is sad to see it run down like this, but the memories are ever clear! Thanks.
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I remember every candy you mentioned. For me it was at the little drug store on the corner from high school which had a soda fountain … and made wonderful root beer floats, as I recall! Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
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You are very welcome! Yes, I remember the rootbeer floats at the Tastie Freeze.
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Nostalgic narrative with scrumptious sweet-tooth detail. Though teeth, like store-fronts, rot.
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Yes, and mine did!! Thanks Amaya!
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Good one, Dwight! I can “see” your beautiful, happy memories kept in an old ramshackle building. We had a Morgan’s Drugstore where we bought candy. It’s not abandoned but remodeled into a liquor store now.
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We all have our places!
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I have great memories of our corner store growing up 🙂
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Yes, it is so good to venture back there in our minds from time to time.
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I have a similar memory of a corner store i used to go to for candy or ice cream cones. I want to remember it exactly as it was. I don’t even know if it is still there. Thanks, Dwight.
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We all love the memories. They are very special. Thanks Sara.
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