Photo by John Cardamone
Back when a star was something to wish on,
all I knew was family, friends, home,
street, and the-corner-grocer Mr. Wolf.
Dogs were dogs and kept in yards, and children—
just kids. We knew not to tell parents
what we did, and they did not want to know.
Happiness was finding an empty soda bottle
to return for a two-cent deposit and hearing
Mr. Wolf’s fingers tap as I pondered penny candy.
Walls were for playing catch, steps for jumping,
sidewalks for scooters or hopscotch, fences for
climbing, and time was for finding four-leaf clovers.
Hardships were a rainy day, having to pull weeds,
getting called in during a game of hide and seek,
a skinned knee, or Mr. Wolf out of bubble gum.
From Time Traveler (Penciled In, 2025)