Went back this weekend out of town <br />For a family birthday party <br />To where I spent <br />Some of my youth <br /> <br />Backing my sister in-law's car <br />Out of her garage <br />Into the alley behind her house <br />Brought back some memories <br /> <br />Drove slowly as I bumped along <br />Over old potholes <br />Who's supposed to fill them now <br />Heavy brush and blackberries on both sides <br /> <br />Ahead of me was a young boy on his bike <br />He had a bouncing empty wagon forced to follow <br />Tied with a frayed piece of scrap rope <br />To the seat post of the bike <br /> <br />Another boy was following <br />As fast as he could on foot <br />This was only a couple of blocks <br />From the alley where I used to play <br /> <br />Alleys are great <br />Protected from traffic and parent's eyes <br />Old man Mitchell's dogs would warn us <br />If anyone was coming <br /> <br />Back then my alley <br />Had fresh oil and gravel <br />If the city truck didn't come in time <br />My grandfather kept the potholes filled <br /> <br />Brought the fill home from work <br />In the bed of his pickup <br />Sometimes I'd get to help him shovel <br />I asked him why he did it <br /> <br />'I'm not paying to get <br />Your grandmother's car realigned again <br />How in the hell <br />Does she find every new pothole? ' <br /> <br />Once we were done <br />I'd get to wash his truck <br />Sit behind the steering wheel <br />And pretend <br /> <br />Nothing disappointing when the alley was young <br />Fresh oil and gravel <br />All the wild blackberries you could eat <br />What more could you want <br /> <br />When I took my sister in-law's car back <br />The boys were gone <br />Without them playing in the alley <br />It's just a dusty shadow-ridden place<br /><br />Tom J. Mariani<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/spent-my-youth-in-an-alley/
