The Park That Time Forgot

There is a park just down from where I live, Just a five minute walk,

There are woods all around it and a creek that runs through it,

I have gone there since I was a child, it was a lot different back then and so was I,

It was my favorite place to go. I went as often as I could, I was there almost every day,

As you walk down into the park from the street you go down a slight hill,

Eventually you come to the creek and there is a canopy of trees that has grown over like a door way,

Just beyond is a concrete bridge with steel railings that crosses the creek below and leads into the park,

The park is secluded and you can almost forget that anyone is around at all.

It's almost a world of its own. A special place where I can always feel peace,

When I was a kid the park looked a lot different than it does now,

There were two sets of swing sets. One was for babies and the other was just regular swings,

I used to love to swing on those swings. I would go as high as I could without completely going over the top,

The creek water was kind of murky but I loved to get in and play in it. It wasn't deep.

I would splash around and run through the water and have a blast.

You just had to keep an eye out for snakes. There were water moccasins and I certainly did not want to be bit by one,

There was all kinds of trails through the woods and I would ride my BMX bike all through them,

Racing through the woods as fast as I could. Usually alone but sometimes with other kids,

There were crawdads in the creek and I always liked catching them but I always let them go,

There was a big full bushy tree and one day that tree became a very important place for me,

I was down in the park with a girl who lived near by one summer day and we were sitting in the trees shade,

Somehow we started kissing and then into a full on make out session.

I remember kissing her passionately and feeling our tongues in each others moths,

As we kissed I ran my hands over her body and felt up her still developing breasts,

She was already a woman to me though.

She tasted like peppermints I remember it like it was yesterday,

Running my hands through her long black hair as we kissed,

It was the first greatest moment of my life at that point,

Like nothing I had ever felt before, such passion, so much pleasure,

I never wanted to stop kissing her.

I had kissed a couple girls before that but nothing like that. I loved every second of it,

I remember almost every detail to this very day

Further down the park was another bridge that led into a large field but I never really went that far,

I prefer the secluded part. My safe place in the world,

I also used to like to go down there at night during the deer mating season,

I would sit very still and very quiet and watch them all gather in the park and do their mating dances,

When I became a teenager I used to go down there and smoke weed where I knew nobody would bother me,

I'd get stoned and just lay in the grass and listen to the creek water trickle by and listen to the birds sing,

I'd watch the trees sway in the wind and soak up the warmth of the sun,

I never felt paranoid or anxious down there. I just felt safe and at peace,

Totally mellow as I laid there watching the clouds float across the bright blue sky,

I brought my friends there too quite a bit, I had alot of friends back then,

I was young and running wild always doing dumb stuff but going to that park was the smartest thing I did back then,

The park always took care of me. It always kept me safe and didn't mind if I brought my friends to be there,

Time passed though and things always change with the passing of time,

Things that exist start to break down before they vanish all together,

To make room for something new to take its place,

Both the park and I are still here. We haven't vanished yet,

But we have both changed. We both look older now,

It's become a forgotten corner of the world by everyone but me,

I never forgot that magic place. I never stopped going,

I understand it. I have been forgotten too,

Not by all but all those friends I used to have,

The friends I brought to my park are gone now,

I still have some friends but not too many and few of them are close,

Busy lives keep them away, but I still have my park,

It's not the same as it once was. It's no longer in its prime, time has taken its toll,

Nobody cuts the grass anymore so it comes up to your thigh,

There used to be a stork like bird that came there every year and lived there though the summer,

It was a beautiful bird and when it arrived each year I knew warm weather was officially here,

I found it's body rotting near the creek last year so theres no more stork birds,

Hunters killed off most of the deer so I rarely even see one any more,

The tree I kissed the girl under is gone now. Theres not even a stump

No trace that it ever existed at all,

The bridge is covered in graffiti now and not in very good shape,

The crawdads are gone now because the water is to polluted for them to live there,

They cut down alot of the woods at the top of the hill to build some strange building that I can't determine its purpose,

I don't bring friends there anymore I bring my little boy.

Now he plays in the creek and I just watch him have fun.

We go to a place where the creek is at its deepest and on the bank is a ton of rocks of all different kinds,

We both toss rocks into the water trying to make the biggest splash we can and have a blast,

I don't ride my bike through the trails anymore but I go for walks on them with him through whats left of the woods,

The second bridge has caved in completely so you have to take a running jump to make it across with dry feet,

The creek bed is littered with crap people dump there,

All the swings are gone also no trace they were ever there except in my memory,

There used to be a street light down there that lit up at the park at night so it wasn't pitch black there at night,

It burnt out years ago and was never given a new bulb and the woods have grown around it so much you can barely see it anymore,

A year or two more and it will be completely hidden.

Erosion has caused alot of the park to fall down into the creek and be washed away down to the river nearby,

So much so that the park is noticeably smaller.

Nobody ever goes down there anymore except my son and I,

It's been many years since I went down there and saw a soul anywhere even around,

People have forgotten it's there,

They killed the wildlife and polluted the water, dumped their garbage, tore down the swings, vandalized the bridge and then left it for time to swallow it whole,

But as long as I keep coming it stays alive,

And keeps me that way too.

Two entities, a park and a person with so much in common,

Both forgotten by everything but each other, even time its self

Which only means to break us down further,

Before it devours us both when it finally get around to remembering we're here,

But I grew up coming to this place and my memories of the place will keep it alive as long as I am,

And even though the grass isn't cut, the wild life is mostly gone, the water is dirty, and the swings are gone,

Most people might say it was an ugly park but it's beautiful to me,

It's close to my heart, It reminds me that everything even parks are mortal,

And sometimes we get forgotten before we are gone.

And even though time has aged us and we look a little rougher by the day,

There is still beauty in us both,

Something that time can't even take away,

The spirit of who or what we are,

So even when I am all alone and it seems like the world has all forgotten me,

Like everyone moved on to a different life and left me behind, left in yesterday,

I can come back to my park. My forgotten corner of the world that I will remember forever,

I think it remembers me too. I think it remembers raising me like another parent,

Making me feel safe and secure, giving me a place to escape the whole world and forget all about it,

Giving me a place I know I'll never be bothered.

I think my park loves me as much as I love it.

Forgotten by the world just like me,

But not giving up because we are alone,

It is my park, my protector, my secret place from the world,

And I am it's faithful companion it watched go from a boy to a man to a man with a boy of my own,

And I know that until that day comes that people pave it over and make it a parking lot,

It will be there waiting for the few people I feel are special enough to be brought to such a place, my son and I

Waiting to welcome us and keep us secluded and safe where we can let everything else fall away,

Lie down in the tall tall grass, feel the sun against my skin, watch the clouds float across the sky, listen to the birds sing and the gentle sound of the water trickling down the creek,

Alone, safe, in my very own park that time forgot but I did not.

Reviews

[felioness]

I really loved this foray into your past. So raw and real, yet sweet and forever hopeful. Your guts spilled out all over the page and it was an awesome trip. There are a few grammar and spelling issues but nothing that can't be fixed with your serious editing eye, or help from a grammar pro. I just loved it!