I laughed at black and white images of I love Lucy,

waited anxiously for Ted Mack’s Amateur hour.

Sat cross-legged on a wooden floor enthralled

by Ed Sullivan’s Sunday offerings,

just glad my aunt allowed me to watch T.V. at her house.

Ate Baby Ruths costing 10 cents a bar.

Smacked my lips around a juicy green hunk of mint julep candy.

Made hoecakes with lard and a half-filled jelly jar of buttermilk.

Licked my chin savoring the last drippings

of a long-awaited Dairy Queen ice cream cone. 

Crunched on cornflakes on special occasions.

Knew that oatmeal was more plentiful.

Found an adventure as I lay

in chiggered flowered fields reading a Guidepost

from fingernail thin cover to cover.

Drank grape Kool-Aid, drink of choice

on sticky tee-shirt summer lulls.

Played jack rocks in a spot in the yard

smoothed free of grass.

Sloshed water over into my flip flops as I padded

uphill carrying bent, metal buckets from the spring.

Squealed as I rose higher and higher

in a tire swing hanging on a limb in the big oak tree.

Rode bicycles assembled from the smorgasbord

of discarded parts

free throughout my neighborhood.

Wore hand-me- downs or rummage sale clothes

that had styles and colors new to me.

Loved having my picture snapped showing my thick corded plaits

slicked down with Dixie Peach pomade composure.

Took baths in a tin tub set in the middle of the kitchen

each Saturday night.

Caught lightning bugs in a Mason jar to use as a nightlight.

Slept soundly after winning my portion

of the quilt and space in a bed shared with two sisters.

Attended the house of the Lawd every Sunday morning.

Wore an oversized deep maroon robe

as I sang in the junior choir,

bellowed in earnest hymns like Nearer my God to Thee

and Precious Lord,

as the deaconess fanned and shouted praise.

                       ****************

I was oblivious to the fact,

 we were poor,

so life was GOOD.