Memories

I grew up just 35 miles from Pittsburgh, PA. These are things I remember.

May 2, 2002

Moon

The biggest treat for me

When I was so much younger,

Was to lie in the moonbeam

That oozed through my bedroom window

And bounced and rested on my bed for the night.

Lying in that moonbeam felt secure…warm…

Birthday cake and baseball glove comfort.

I reveled in this warmth.

Moonbeams today

Are cold…

　

　

Pittsburgh circa the 50's

For endless miles along the muddy river

Steel Mills shat out crimson colored diarrhea

That ran down the hillside towards the river…

Glowing neon lava.

And skinny, soot covered smokestacks,

Phallic symbols of heroic strength on the Mill Roofs,

Belched out blackish lung killing ash and smoke.

Now the Mills are dead…

Engulfed by their own greedy need to breathe poison.

And the river still flows…

How ironic…

Buds

There were four of us…

Long time friends and lovers of adventure.

We walked the railroad tracks from town to town

Hoping, and in the same trembling breath, fearing

That a train would

Run full steam at us, hooting and hissing for us to get out of the way or forever

Become a piece of fleshy track...

And while we listened intently for the warning rumbles and vibrations

We watched for treasures which, by today's standards,

Would be nothing but junk.

But when we were young, it was truly a Pirate's hoard sunk into the

Railroad bed.

　

Glue

We got high, my friends and I.

Not on the fumes of the goop that held those miniature plastic replicas,

But on the idea that, somehow, someway,

They would become real for us and not just

Models of plastic, glue, and sweat.

And those sneaky put - them - together - and - wait tiny pieces of reality

Did come to life as we had dreamed.

But, by then, we were too far removed to really appreciate it.

　

Sledding

Winter in Pennsylvania brought it's own galoshes…

Rubbery soot from Steel Mills, and the clinging fumes of traffic.

But in some places where we grew up, winter remained pure…

Testing our skill and nerve and stupidity…

Sledding down the hill covered in wedding gown white.

And if we weren't quick enough or lucky enough,

We'd sploosh into the scummy creek at the bottom

Of our Eden…

Smelly, soaked, and laughing.