My grandparents' old house in Detroit, completely remodeled.
You can see the tree in the background. Beyond that tree is the alley.
Alley AdventureYou can see the tree in the background. Beyond that tree is the alley.
The Alley behind our grandparents' house
was intriguing to my brother and me.
was intriguing to my brother and me.
The grown-ups didn’t want us to go there,
but he knew how to unlatch the back gate,
Sshhh…very quietly, so it wouldn’t squeak.
We tiptoed onto the graveled road.
A sweet yet acrid smell filled the air;
it was a strange, forbidden world.
This day, we discovered a horseshoe print,
embedded in a piece of hidden pavement,
shadowed by the tall grasses growing wild,
fighting for a piece of the dappled sunrays
that played upon the broken cement.
“Only one print,” Stephen whispered,
“Must be from Pegasus.”
Voices formed words in an unknown tongue
and floated from a large window of an old house
behind an unpainted wooden fence,
“Sssshhh! Ghosts!” he whispered.
I bent down to pick up a weapon,
a broken shard of brown glass
“This is a piece of magic glass, Jeanne,
from a land faraway… Put it down!
We don’t know what evil powers it might have.”
Reluctantly, I tossed the shard.
No magic today… no spilling of blood.
A quick run to the old wooden gate,
and we were back on Grandma’s garden path,
with freshly cut grass, wildflowers and roses,
our absence unnoticed, our memories enriched.
Jeanne I. Lakatos 2011
Great memory! I love your brother's imagination - and it sounds like he was probably old enough to know you shouldn't be playing with broken glass.
ReplyDeleteI loved this, I was there within all that magic, fear and daring and some wonderful lines,...tall grasses growing wild....a sweet yet acid smell filled the air... & great close, plus your brother sounds nuts, in the best kind of way!
ReplyDeleteDana, yes and thank you. Stephen does what big brothers do well: tease their little sisters all the while protect them.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Socks. Yep, he's nuts all right... in a good way.
Delightful! When my boys were 7,8 and 9 we lived next to a vacant house .. the owner had passed away months prior. They called it 'the dead man's house' and executed a few explorations inside (without our knowledge) .. they still talk about those days and they are 48,49 and 50!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Helen. Ooh, yes, those creepy old houses were so exciting! We had one in our neighborhood that we called, 'the witch's house."
ReplyDeleteWonderful poem, Jeanne Iris. Alleys are special places, a whole separate town laid over the first one, full of interesting and dangerous things kept out of sight.
ReplyDeleteMerci, NanU. Wow, I really like the way you phrased your comment. Yes, you're right; alleys are similar to alternate dimensions, aren't they?
ReplyDeleteWonderful what imagination can add to an everyday scene...
ReplyDeleteSo true, Jinksy. Good to hear from you! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's always exciting to go where you shouldn't go and you capture the imagination of childhood beautifully here Jeanne!
ReplyDeleteI loved this bit
'This day, we discovered a horseshoe print,
imbedded in a piece of hidden pavement,
shadowed by the tall grasses growing wild,
fighting for a piece of the dappled sunrays
that played upon the broken cement.
“Only one print,” Stephen whispered,
“Must be from Pegasus.”'
Thanks, TFE. When we were children, my brother taught me how to be aware of the 'magic' that surrounded us every day. No matter how difficult it may seem, I try to adapt that same awareness in adulthood.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this feeling of the delicious mystery of childhood.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Karen!
ReplyDelete