Go Out and Play

“Go out and play,”

Was my mother’s favourite refrain in the summer

So dutifully (as if I had a choice)

I would place a book under my shirt and in the waist of my shorts

And skulk out of the house, away from the big brown chair

I had adopted as my own and

climb my favourite tree

Then nestle into the crook of three thick branches

where the bark was smooth and welcoming~

I would while away the summer days

Shaded by the leaves; hidden in my lair

And go on adventures without setting foot on the ground.

Summer memories……………….