RETURN TO OUR ROOTS

               RETURN TO OUR ROOTS.

I was at a reunion to celebrate an old dead town.

It had been beaten, bulldozed and partially burned down.

But this reunion was a very strange thing you see,

There a large group of people had gathered, including me.

We gather each year to reminisce, visit and eat.

Sometimes it rains and sometimes there is heat.

We talk about being young in that old mining town,

And dream our dreams with a smile or a frown.

Why do we come to talk about our “Roots,”

Especially since most of us have become “Old Coots.”

Some of us just sit there and mumble and stare

And some don’t remember much, but we do not care.

Why do we want to dream of a night or a day,

In places long ago that we did work and play?

We want to go back to see if it is the same,

But we know before we get there it will never be the same.

Some of us are wrinkled, old and sagging it seems,

But we still come to our reunion to renew our dreams.

To return to our roots is natural it seems,

As we look at that town that has turned into dreams.

Most of our memories are of good times it seems.

At least that is what happens when I have my dreams.

Some were born there, schooled there, and married a wife

And they tell everyone about that “good” small town life.

Some married and moved to some other places,

But at reunion time they return with smiling faces.

Will we grieve forever for our friends and our town.

At our reunion, there are smiles, but hardly a frown.

It is sad to know that towns are not like that anymore,

Where you could leave for a week and not lock your door.

Your neighbor took care of your place, just fine.

And I took care of his just like he did mine.

Some married spouses from towns that were nearby.

But many were from our town under that blue, blue sky.

When we have to leave that town, many did grieve,

For the town and the people who they did not want to leave.

Of course things never stay the same I suppose,

The last time I was there, I saw a yellow rose,

Growing in a fence line where I used to play.

I wonder if it knew I would come back some day?

Life is not the same without my wife and my friends,

But I am trying to enjoy life until the very end.

Someone once told me that to reminisce was a gift.

But I have to start fast or my mind starts to drift----

And my reminiscing turns quickly into a dream---

             AS I HAVE MY DAILY NAP

W.R.Baldwin

26 Jan 2017