The Preparation

The alarm would sound at 4am

You’d carry me to the car

I’d remember half knowing

Where we were going

But not worrying

 

I knew, I was safe

 

You would wrap rice crispies in

Cling film

With just enough milk in a Tupperware container

And a bowl for a sprinkling of sugar

As the sun

Broke through

The motorway haze

 

I knew, without knowing

 

The smell of wet and dry dog hair

Through square grates of black

Meant a dribbling nose

Sometimes down my back

 

But would still sleep

My

Legs

Would fill

The back seat

But I didn’t even regard the worry

 

Because I knew, I was safe

 

All this in a night drive

Just a way of life

Back then

For us

 

All this with a soft kiss

On the forehead

For a sleepy bed head

7 to 10 years of age

To an early teen

 

For then

I was so content

 

 

A proper memory

A recollection

Without a cemetery

Of false hope

 

I’d feel the early the morning sun

I’d stretch out my legs

I’d get on the dew covered grass and put the tent out

And bang in the pegs

 

We would find a patch

That held our own sense of space

We’d win a few shows

And never lose face

 

Those times I remember fondly

Even when once scared by the monster

Of the horses and of the booming sounds of the live band

But those days I cherish affectionately

 

Through the creases in my hand

 

Reviews

[BrightEyes]

for us, it was 4 am piled into the back of the station wagon...headed down to my aunt's house at the shore...coming home the same way late at night. I like the repetition here of the message that was most important...knowing you were safe. Sharing your childhood memories with us...with a beautiful write.

laura :)

[Celtic Cat]

Wow, this was such a delight to read. It reminds me of all my sleepy headed rides home from Grandma's, and sometimes faking sleep so I could be carried into the house when we got home. : ) This is so great, love the part about the wet nosed dog dribbling down your back... too cute!!
This piece is so great. I love it.

[R J Askew]

Lovely recollection of childhood. 4 am, motorways, and weariness sounds like a nightmare to be avoided now, but when we are kids we take what comes our way and the poem shows it to be a very happy memory. it is also very amusing as well as touching to the reader...can sense the parents in the background getting it all together and the dogs as well, with you in the midst of it. the wet nose is palpable. Seems like an age at the time and we take it as the norm and don't realise what seemingly ordinary events will mean to us in later life. But life then starts to disappoint and we get to the 'cemetery of false hopes'...but later on we remember how happy we were. I imagine the poem will trigger similar memory streams in most who read it. Very effective writing.

[Bubo]

A beautiful look at a childhood memory when all feels safe and life is simple...........
"For then I was so content"
that peaceful feeling of childhood and family togetherness.
The end was simple but effective,
but stunning.

[Angelheaded Hipster]

Thank you for sharing early childhood memories with us...I loved the repetition of I knew....It brings a sense of blind trust/innocense. I remember piling into the car at 3 am, dead asleep, and going to Disneyland....we would do this once every three months or so....
This brings back good memories for me.....

[Helen Woodward]

Wonderful! Love those great childhood memories and like you I always felt safe...to me that was and is everything. The dog shows probably bored you to tears, but you don't sound in any way perturbed by it!
Beautiful memoir....