When I was young and free <br />Slate clean, bare kneed, immortal to the mind <br />There were long hard icy winters <br />Freezing landscapes, lasting months. <br />Snowmen, carrot nosed with eyes of coal. <br />Kids tobogganing, screaming in delight <br />Racing downhill upon upturned milk crates. <br /> <br />Long bright summers full of wonder <br />Which never seeming to end. <br />We made tree camps hidden in the woods <br />Played cowboys and Indians. <br />And thought girls were rather silly <br />For not liking football, frogs and mice <br />And always wanting to play kiss chase. <br /> <br />Sixpence pocket money left on the mantelpiece <br />For Saturday morning cinema <br />Where we sucked ice lollies in crowded stalls <br />Cheering on Hop-a-long Cassidy and Roy Rogers <br />And booing the black-hatted villains. <br />Sweets were on ration, gobstoppers, fizzy saucers <br />Bulleyes, sticky toffee, chocolate bars all one penny. <br /> <br />Home in a street with no doors locked <br />And friendly neighbours always ready to help. <br />Bank holidays to Brighton to sit on pebble beaches <br />Paddling in the warm sea, building sand castles <br />Eating fish and chips from newspapers. <br />Chewing on sticks of pink peppermint rock <br />Looking to see if the name went right through. <br /> <br />Cinema with the family on a Wednesday night <br />With a hot meat pie each on the way home <br />And carried high on my father's shoulders <br />Over the field at the back of our house. <br />My mother's sweet kisses and hugs <br />The stories read by my father at bedtime <br />These were the precious things when I was young.<br /><br />Colin Ian Jeffery<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/when-i-was-young-10/
