Written during the pandemic as an example for a poetry project I assigned my middle school students. They needed to take a line from a favorite song and then use that line to begin a poem.

There are places I remember
Places that hold memories long forgotten
Long shadows, witnesses to the past
Smells that immediately transport me back

Back to a simpler time when we could gather freely
Children could be kids
Adults accepted responsibility
A time when freedom reigned and the republic lived

A black and white portrait here,
Kerosene lanterns afixed to the wall
Polished glass overlooking the cedar swamp
The coziness of a Franklin stove

My sister and I, in curls, smocked dressed, and bows
Polished patent leather shoes and all smiles
Helping mom and grandma prepare Thanksgiving
Waiting for hunters to return and string a buck up on the pole

Living as pioneers until nightfall, the generator roaring to life
The bustle and business of extended family
Cards, laughter, and love
Cousins, forts, and leaves

Memories long buried, decades past
Rising each fall with the smoke from burning leaves