PHOTO PROMPT © J Hardy Carroll
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
k. Rawson 
Lovely happy wordcraft here
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Neil!
LikeLike
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
LikeLiked by 1 person
This photo brought on the nostalgia for sure. Thanks for reading, Rochelle.
LikeLike
Love this. You beautifully capture the free feeling of a summer day at the amusement park.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks J. Hardy. Thanks for the inspiring prompt.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a lovely memory and picture. The poem summed up those fond childhood summers. Well done.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much, glad you liked it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s great to have a place where you can connect with the past. Nice poem.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank kindly & thanks for reading, Trent.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A wonderfully whimsical piece! Delightful.
Click to read my FriFic!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Keith. Love the new blog, btw.
LikeLike
Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You just handed me my childhood (except for comic books) in 98 words. Well done.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha! I can’t think of a finer compliment. Thanks so much, James 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
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?
LikeLiked by 1 person
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.
LikeLike
Such a joyful, frolicksome poem – feels like summer reading it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂 We could sure use some summer here in the Northern Hemisphere. Thanks so much for reading.
LikeLike
I am spinning with everyone in the picture, with everyone on this blog post.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was probably spinning when I wrote it, by the sounds of it 😉 Thanks for reading, Kelvin.
LikeLiked by 1 person
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
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great praise coming from you, whose work i admire so much. Thanks for reading!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, my pleasure, Karen
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely story to go with a lovely photo. Thank you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂 thank you Sandra!
LikeLike
What a lovely poem, with excitement popping out of every line.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much. Glad you liked it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh I love it… made me so happy to read. I long for summer, and being young.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Me too, more and more. Thanks for reading, Bjorn!
LikeLike
What a fantastic capture of childhood! Well done, thanks so much for sharing. I love that picture too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you and thank you kindly for reading and commenting!
LikeLike
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
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow Mandi, I’m so honored! Yes, I’d be delighted. I’ll email.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I got it and sent you back the questions. Thanks so much. Your writings amazing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are very kind!
LikeLiked by 1 person
😊
LikeLike
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
LikeLiked by 1 person
So glad to hear it–then it worked 😉 Thanks for your kind words.
LikeLike
My pleasure, as always.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a refreshing poem for this cold winter day 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for reading. Glad you liked it!
LikeLike
Olly olly oxen free… I haven’t heard that in a long time. Nice piece, love the last line.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you kindly! How about Eeny meeny miney moe? 😉
LikeLike
I absolutely adored this, Karen! Wonderful and, like Ted, hadn’t heard olly, olly, oxen free in soooo long!
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀 Glad you liked it! Thanks so much, Dale.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What lovely whimsical sniff of nostalgia you’ve served us with Karen! Loved it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The joy of summer holidays!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes indeed. Can’t wait until it’s summer again. Thanks for reading.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Loved the child-like singsong quality of this, and it brought back so many happy memories — jarfull of night and firefly, oh yes…
LikeLike
🙂 Thanks so much!
LikeLiked by 1 person
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!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh Penny, I’m so touched by your kind words! Thank you for the reblog. I’m delighted 😀
LikeLike
You’re very welcome, Karen!
LikeLiked by 1 person
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.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Like morning sunshine bursting through a window, your poem brought back many warm memories. I love it. Thanks for sharing, Karen!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m so delighted! Thank you for taking the time to read and comment. It really made my day.
LikeLike
And thanks for sharing Karen’s poem with all of us, Penny! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is a lovely happy poem indeed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much!
LikeLike