THAT YE BE NOT JUDGED
(Matthew 7:1)

We went to safe schools
in the middle-class suburbs 
of the 1960s.
 
We were raised by two parents
or some combination 
of grown-ups who loved us.

Mothers might sneak us a sandwich
on those nights frustrated fathers
sent us to bed with no supper.

Our parents were raised during the Depression
and taught us that money can come
and that money can go.
 
There was always food
though we sometimes ate hot dogs 
on the night before payday.
 
The bookmobile came on Wednesday
and on weekends someone took us
to church or to synagogue.
 
Boys got mad and wrestled after school
but were best friends again
if one would say "uncle."

We carried our girlfriends’ books,
unashamed to play second fiddle
to Paul McCartney or Davy Jones.
 
Imagine, now, how all these things
worked to our advantage
in the days of our youth.
 
And imagine now how different 
had these stanchions of stability
not been there for us at all.

I wrote this poem two years ago but thought it lacking in substance and set it aside. I rewrote it – I hope I added some substance! – and changed the title this morning. I kind of like it now. The inspiration sprang from listening to someone who grew up with a lot of advantages complain about those who did not. Life can be hard on all of us, regardless of our background, but a solid foundation helps when dealing with life’s trials; agreed? A special shout out to my classmates at Adrian Elementary School in South Euclid, Ohio. South Euclid is a close-in east-side suburb of Cleveland. I’m grateful I grew up when and where I did.

Information on purchasing my book – SLOW RIVERS: Poems from My Sixties – is available at josephneely.com. Please consider ordering SLOW RIVERS through your local bookstore (SLOW RIVERS by Joseph Neely, ISBN 979-8-218-43822-7).

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A New Poem Every So Often.
(No regular schedule right now; life gets in the way.)

Joseph Neely, all rights to original material reserved.