“Schoolhouse Hill”

Spread the memory blanket out

For a good old days picnic…

No, there was no internet,

Smartphones or silly string, but-

We walked to our own school.

Lunch served on china plates!

Maude and Ruby cooking supreme.

Absolutely the finest kind Hawkeye-

By standards 90210 to Ivy League.

Mmmmmm cornbread and taters.

First grade with Miss Francis,

Learning to cut the tails off little t’s,

Reading “Dick and Jane,” mandatory

Afterlunch nap-spent by me staring at

Sandy Turpin or watching bubbles.

Second grade with Miss Betty,

Spelling Nazi and not shy with a paddle.

Pretty good teacher, just high-strung &

Mistaked having Donnie walk home after

He broke his arm on the chalk holder.

Third grade with Mr. McIntire,

“Friendly Village,” leaf & bug collecting,

Great walking field trips around the

Schoolhouse neighborhood with Red,

A real science teacher and interesting man.

Mr. Rodgers our principle, the speech teacher

Who visited now & then, and the rest all fade.

Larry & Cathy from the Mill Dam, the singing

Mason sisters, Gene & Essie Lands out from

Shoal Creek, Lloyd Hardy-where are you now?

Was the Hardy girl named Loretta? She was

Pretty with her front teeth out and that

Mischievous grin framed by her curly locks.

Where did the whirlpool of time swirl all of

My childhood friends at Mount Vernon school?

I miss ‘em.