What is Normal

/ rothpoetry

EER_0464

Our free range playgrounds of childhood have died.

We no longer live connected, but rather side by side

We know each other by first name only

Some live isolated and feel quite lonely

Gone are the days of front porch swings

Where friends may gather as evening begins

And lovers sit swinging hand in hand

It was wonderful // Life was grand

Our doors never locked and curtains seldom pulled

Kids ran free and no threat while at school

Played in the woods // climbed trees without nets

Disappeared all day and played with their pets

And if we ever needed help from a friend

We knew who to call // that neighbor round the bend

Seems the new normal arrived long before Covid

As life had already changed  // no matter what we did

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

 

This poem came to me after reading Reena Sexons poem:

https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2020/08/05/target-markets/#comment-101335

35 thoughts on “What is Normal”

  1. This is beautiful. I had the pleasure of being raised by older parents and although the world around us may have changed, my upbringing is just as you described. I tried to give my daughter the same against the grain. I wish more people still cared about not only making things “easy”, but enjoying that which is simple.

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  9. You have described this so beautifully. I grew up in a small place, in a colony where neighbours would freely walk into others places to say hi, drop in for a tea and chat. I don’t see all that around me nowadays any more, and even I have drawn that much more into a self made cocoon (part responsible is my ever increasing work schedule also). You are so correct, the new sad normal came much before Covid.

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  12. I grew up like you shared in your poem…and I raised my children that way, too. But from our generation to our grandkids generation life has certainly changed…especially since March 2020.

    Your poem is wonderful, Dwight! Brings back precious memories to my mind and heart!

    Life changes and we adapt and change and we not just survive, but can thrive. 🙂

    As an extroverted extrovert who always lived a busy life, these days are a bummer. But I find good things to do each day, I find the joys. 🙂 And YAY for Skype, and Zoom, and FaceTime, etc.! 🙂

    (((HUGS))) 🙂

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  13. I love this poem. It reminds me of my childhood summers spending time riding my bike along with the other neighborhood kids, playing tag, going to the 7-Eleven to pick up a freeze pop for 30 cents with no adults around. We didn’t need A/C or cable TV, just our imagination!

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