When I Was Your Age

by Pippin O'Leary

Scamper up or down
Your choice it be, little lad.
Oh, to be young…
to have youth's energy

You see that gnarled old branch?
No, the one high in the air!
My hiding spot in my boyhood days
Hey! I was young once too…

What else did I do in the past?
What else did I climb?
The answers are simple, my son
I would climb anything my hands could grasp
I would play any game under the sky.

You play them as well, the games of my youth
Red Rover, Crack the Whip, Kick the Can…
What?! You don’t?
They say it’s unsafe?
Bah.
Shows what they know.

If only my back were a little stronger…
I’d show you a thing or five.
Games played in lofty trees
In handmade forts of dirt
Not these sissy ‘Obey Me’ games
All you do is listen and follow!

...yes, they are sissy games
‘Mother May I?’ ‘Red Light Green Light’?
‘Simon says’? Who is Simon?

At least you still have the woods
I was worried they’d be gone by now
With all the changes in the world
Who’s to say they wouldn’t get rid of trees?

Hmm? The trees in my day?
What do you mean, ‘the ancient ones?’
I’m not that old…

We had oaks, elms
birch cherry and pine
The older, the stronger, the better.
I’ll show you where to climb

Go on now, listen to your mom
Wash up for supper, there’s m’boy
Huh? You... you want to know?
About my childhood?
Sure... let’s talk after dinner.



 

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