Waking up in June
Hey Koolaid, get your summer on
Morning dew, I don’t back down.
School’s out, summer!
Playground, dayground, butterfly garden
I can swing so high the chain goes slack
Squealing on the breath-catch dizzy-down.
Ready or not, here I come!
Barefoot and coppertoned, hear my rally:
I’ve got a pool pass, wanna see it?
Olly olly oxen free
Jarfull of night and firefly
I don’t see no streetlights;
I can stay out late ya know
Twenty-five cents buys a fresh box of crayons
Didja wanna know a secret?
Look inside:
I’ve got a million colors.
—
98 words
This has been an edition of Friday Fictioneers, hosted by the talented Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. This week’s photo courtesy J. Hardy Carroll. To read more stories inspired by the prompt, click here.
A tidbit for you….I am actually in this picture and so are two of my daughters. The place where this is taken is one I’ve gone to for forty years and this particular ride has always been among my favorites. It’s rare thing (and growing rarer) to have such tangible connections to one’s childhood. And nothing says childhood to me like a poem I wrote several years ago, so rather than write something new, thought I’d share a drawer-poem.
As always, thanks for reading.
Karen
Lovely happy wordcraft here
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Thanks Neil!
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Dear Karen,
Loved this piece. Perfect and brought back so many memories. I could even smell the crayons in the box. Pitch perfect. 😀
Shalom,
Rochelle
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This photo brought on the nostalgia for sure. Thanks for reading, Rochelle.
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Love this. You beautifully capture the free feeling of a summer day at the amusement park.
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Thanks J. Hardy. Thanks for the inspiring prompt.
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What a lovely memory and picture. The poem summed up those fond childhood summers. Well done.
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Thanks so much, glad you liked it.
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It’s great to have a place where you can connect with the past. Nice poem.
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Thank kindly & thanks for reading, Trent.
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A wonderfully whimsical piece! Delightful.
Click to read my FriFic!
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Thank you Keith. Love the new blog, btw.
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Thank you!
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You just handed me my childhood (except for comic books) in 98 words. Well done.
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Haha! I can’t think of a finer compliment. Thanks so much, James 😀
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What a gem of a poem!
And “Squealing on the breath-catch dizzy-down.” That’s a wonderful, wonderful line!
This is just gorgeous, Karen. May I reblog it, please?
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Oh Penny, I would be honored! That’s so very kind of you. I love that you loved this piece. I wasn’t so sure about it.
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Such a joyful, frolicksome poem – feels like summer reading it.
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🙂 We could sure use some summer here in the Northern Hemisphere. Thanks so much for reading.
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I am spinning with everyone in the picture, with everyone on this blog post.
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I was probably spinning when I wrote it, by the sounds of it 😉 Thanks for reading, Kelvin.
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This is wonderful. The free flowing tone of the language fits perfectly with the subject – it’s a riot of words encapsulating the excitement you only get when you know you have weeks of summer ahead of you. Gorgeous
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Great praise coming from you, whose work i admire so much. Thanks for reading!
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Ah, my pleasure, Karen
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Lovely story to go with a lovely photo. Thank you.
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🙂 thank you Sandra!
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What a lovely poem, with excitement popping out of every line.
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Thanks so much. Glad you liked it!
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Oh I love it… made me so happy to read. I long for summer, and being young.
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Me too, more and more. Thanks for reading, Bjorn!
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What a fantastic capture of childhood! Well done, thanks so much for sharing. I love that picture too.
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Thank you and thank you kindly for reading and commenting!
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Such a cute poem! Karen, I do Writer/blogger interviews every three weeks or so. I’m wondering if that’s something you’d like to do b/c I would love to send you some interview questions. Give me a shout at mandi_ae@hotmail.com if you’re interested. Thanks
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Wow Mandi, I’m so honored! Yes, I’d be delighted. I’ll email.
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I got it and sent you back the questions. Thanks so much. Your writings amazing!
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You are very kind!
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😊
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Pull out as many drawer-poems as you like. This was fanciful and fun and took me back to wonderful summer days and nights while I was growing up. Lish
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So glad to hear it–then it worked 😉 Thanks for your kind words.
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My pleasure, as always.
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What a refreshing poem for this cold winter day 🙂
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Thanks for reading. Glad you liked it!
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Olly olly oxen free… I haven’t heard that in a long time. Nice piece, love the last line.
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Thank you kindly! How about Eeny meeny miney moe? 😉
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I absolutely adored this, Karen! Wonderful and, like Ted, hadn’t heard olly, olly, oxen free in soooo long!
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😀 Glad you liked it! Thanks so much, Dale.
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What lovely whimsical sniff of nostalgia you’ve served us with Karen! Loved it.
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Thanks so much!
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The joy of summer holidays!
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Yes indeed. Can’t wait until it’s summer again. Thanks for reading.
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Loved the child-like singsong quality of this, and it brought back so many happy memories — jarfull of night and firefly, oh yes…
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🙂 Thanks so much!
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Reblogged this on Autumn Leaves and commented:
Although most of what I post on Autumn Leaves is my own, original work, just occasionally I read something exceptional and want to share it. This poem is by Karen Rawson, and in my opinion it’s outstanding. It will be one of my ‘go to’ poems if I need cheering up, because it’s just bursting with joy!
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Oh Penny, I’m so touched by your kind words! Thank you for the reblog. I’m delighted 😀
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You’re very welcome, Karen!
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I really liked all the kid talk – Olly olly oxen free – was my fav. I’m not a poem guy, but I liked this a lot. Thanks Penny.
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Like morning sunshine bursting through a window, your poem brought back many warm memories. I love it. Thanks for sharing, Karen!
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I’m so delighted! Thank you for taking the time to read and comment. It really made my day.
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And thanks for sharing Karen’s poem with all of us, Penny! 🙂
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That is a lovely happy poem indeed.
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Thanks so much!
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