Thoughts from a Playground

This is where I twisted from a tree-tire
and waited for Joey to give me a kiss

when our mothers were at the grocery store.
This is where I used to wade in mossy waters

catching California green toads
with my galoshes on and remaining wartless

despite my mother’s warnings
This is where I heard the song,

Mary, Mary and fell in love with Davey Jones,
when I was wearing blue fishnets,

trying to look like Haley Mills
in The Moonspinners.

This is where I used to come
and think I’d always have a home,

my mother cooking Peking Duck
and my father doing the twist in our living room.

I was wrong.

© Carol Grellas