Classic

America

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.