I'm aware that this is late, but I didn't have wifi over the weekend. Happy (late) 4th of July to all my people out there! I thought I should bring y'all some good memories from my childhood. :)
~~~
independence day
waking up to the smell of barbecue chicken, rice, and baklava baking in the oven
"make sure to eat a light lunch cause you'll be stuffed like a turkey come evening"
take a nap to waste your time, watch a movie, take a shower
shorts and flip flops ready to go
hop in the truck and bring the food with you, excitement building up
knock on the door, greeted with a hug and a kiss on the cheek
put the food on the plastic folding table for supper tonight
"the kids are out in the back, honey, go join them"
run to them hollerin' and they'll scream back a hello
you're the only Persian child in this county, but you'll fit in fine
"here's your share of the fireworks before the show"
throw a sparker and light up a tree
sneak cherry poppers and firecrackers into that anthill
explosions left you craving a bigger bang
so you'd anxiously ask if you could let off just one bottle rocket
and Ol' Nettleton would laugh at you
hand you the bottle rocket and that bottle of Jack Daniels
run to the other kids so you all could watch the explosions
but then it was supper time, so you'd run back to ma and pop
and eat your fill of chicken and rice, with corn on the cob
and a hamburger with chips and a Pepsi
until your stomach hurt, until the sun goes down
cause when the sun goes down, the world will light up
you're the youngest, so you get first choice
you pick the biggest bottle rocket you can find
and place it in the bottle
aim, fire
black soot on your toes and legs
but that felt oh so exhilarating
so you watch the other kids in the gang let off various illegal fireworks into the sky
and set off as many as you can yourself
roman candle in your hands
"don't blink, or you might miss the shootoff"
force tries to push you back, but you hold your ground
vivid colors light up the sky
fire arises, due to a city kid who doesn't know how to properly set off a firework
and you have to clean up their mess
run out with a garden hose
to pour water on that sagebrush
and they threaten to take away your fireworks
cause of someone else's mistake
but you stand your ground
and you light up three roman candles in a row
light up the world
and you eat your slice of birthday cake
and a piece of baklava
and the last firework is set off
as everybody sings The Star-Spangled Banner
"Oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
o'er the land of the free-"
and there's always that one drunk who yells out
"America!"
in the middle of the song, everyone laughs, you take your sparker
and you head on home, with your head out the window
and a good memory on your lips.
YOU ARE READING
Classic
PoetryA collection of poetry. Classic feelings added to classic thoughts equals classic poetry. Rated PG-13 for language. © 2015 layschips1