Jennifer Jowett has rocked the prompts this week at http://www.ethicalela.com! Today’s prompt comes at the eleventh hour of my summer vacation, as I return on contract this morning. What a great way to relive a childhood summer before heading back. I love poems that bring pleasant memories. Oh, to go back to St. Simons in the 1970s…..
St. Simons (1970s)
summer festival
in Neptune Park
ferris wheel thrills
laughter, squeals
people at ease
a different era
1970s hippie leather
bracelet – I picked my
birth flowers
larkspur of happiness
water lily of innocence
and my name, all caps
watched them imprint
(larkspur) K I M (waterlily)
fastened it, rode off flip-flopped
in shorts and halter top
to the rocks by the pier
for the fireworks
back when girls could
ride banana seat bikes
with flourescent wheel spikes together alone
long hair blowing in the island breeze
and no one worried
snow cones at the ballpark
after the game
I was a Pirate, left field
burgundy jersey, white letters
208 Martin Street
Slip and Slide
and trampoline
lush carpet of St. Augustine
barefoot cartwheels
climbing tree swings
vacation on Fernandina Beach
at the fish camp (fish fries and hush puppies!)
echoes of a sulfury shower house
vented window slats rolled open
reading Pippi Longstocking by flashlight
oh, carefree summertime….
happy place in the heart of childhood
return and stay forever
Common Threads 
What beautiful moments of nostalgia you’ve brought me! I do remember that banana-seat bike. For me, it was a pink Huffy dirt bike. I loved that thing.
All of these memories – the slip ‘n slide, the freedom to run around and just BE. Ahhh. You’ve taken me back. Thank you!
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