We would wake up in the morning. Later we would go to bed at night. I never heard anyone question it. People knew where they stood. Sure times were hard but things were things and that was important.
People didn’t sell things. Nowadays everyone is selling something. It was windier then. These days someone is always laughing at you and someone is laughing at them and so on.
A knife. A boy can’t remember his name brought a knife to school. We all of us just stared at it. Then we looked at the boy.
We went to hear the word. Every Sunday we went. Maybe we didn’t understand it. An we sure didn’t live up to it. But we went. We showed up. My sister I looked out for her. And my brother too. My father he was a good man. Who can be bothered to even remember their names. When I was four or five I don’t know I saw a house burn down. It was our neighbors house. Point is he him and his family he was our NEIGHBOR.
You could cut down a tree. If you saw a tree you wanted you cut it down. Now they tell us we’re running out of trees.
All day we wouldn’t stop. We used to run and play. Air filled our lungs and replenished our spirits. Girls. Girls were really beautiful. I’m talking about special. They were special things. It’s hard to express. They humbled you. The sky seemed different. And the birds. The birds!
I found a dead dog in the street. There was a boy not much older than me crying. I asked is this your dog. He just looked at me. Later we fought in the war together.
I used to be proud to be where I’m from.
