BILLY MITCHELL
Today in my mind but yesterday was a long time ago,
I think of you, a place and a school, I was a little boy.
It was nineteen sixty seven, Kindergarten and you,
The first day of school is recalled in my mind, a boy I saw cry,
His name Was Cotero, I think of those clowns on a wall.
Are they still there? I wonder, swingsets and young friends,
A boy named Grover, Duck, Duck, goose, Graham crackers and milk.
Naptime, I remember the cabinets with cartoonish pictures,
Reading time was the best, Foldout books, three dimensional stories,
Hansel and Gretel, all the best, I was there until nineteen seventy.
Hard to remember the teachers’ names, Mrs. Scott back in second grade,
I think it was Mr. Kelly, Principal with dark hair and glasses,
John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt was a song in the Cafeteria.
After school and on the weekends you could play games,
Carroms, maze, and more, Billy Mitchell, when once I was a child.
Friends, Jeff, James, Jimmy, and Alan, wherever they are, I remember,
There was a bell back then known as the freeze bell, stand very still.
We all have our childhood, our memories, a town to call home, then we roam,
Billy Mitchell, I find myself wandering back to you, memories of a school.
Keith Garrett
I loved this. Different details than mine but the same way my memories from childhood feel — like an Impressionist painting. Lovely and true. Thank you, Jane
Thank you, Jane, for reading.
Virus-free. http://www.avast.com
On Thu, Aug 13, 2020 at 11:28 AM keithgarrettpoetry wrote:
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