When I Was A Kid

When I was a kid....
....I made mud pies with my little sister
and decorated them with the Hollyhock dolls
our mother showed us how to make.

When I was a kid....
....I had a huge crush on my brother's best friend
and thought he was my boyfriend because he told me
I was beautiful. I told him it was just because I had a new perm.

When I was a kid....
....I learned how to harness old Queenie to the buggy
so Betty and I could urge the horse up Sunset Hill
to watch, what else? The sunset.

When I was a kid....
....I coveted a double holster set of fake pearl handled
six shooters - so I could be the Woman Sheriff when
we played Cowboys and Indians - even when there
wasn't such a thing as a woman sheriff!

When I was a kid....
....We were required to help Mom in the garden
And when I told her I was dizzy and seeing black
spots before my eyes, she believed me and let me
sit in the shade of the big evergreen tree.

When I was a kid....
....One of my chores was feeding the chickens
and gathering the eggs. I was afraid of the setting
hens - the ones which pecked when I tried for their
warm treasures. I learned to use a stick to hold their
necks aside as I reached beneath to steal their futures.

When I was a kid....
....Our pets were the barn cats so when one neighbor had
a pet fox he kept caged it seemed exotic even though
I didn't know that word then.  Another neighbor's
German Shepherds scared me to death - and they knew it.

When I was a kid....
....Summer vacation meant a week at each of my Grandma's -
Snooping through one's jewelry box in a spare bedroom.
Helping the other pick berries and milk the cows.

When I was a kid....
....Corn cob fights, boys against girls, wasn't fair.
They could throw harder and more accurately and
when they climbed atop the hog house, corn cobs
could be rained down upon us mercilessly.

When I was a kid....
....I couldn't wait to grow up, to have a boyfriend
to get married and have kids of my own. But now,
most of my memories are of ....
....when I was a kid.