Childhood Days Poem by Martin Moore

CHILDHOOD DAYS
My childhood days coming spilling back
We occupied ourselves quite easily then
Imagination was a gift, not a necessity.
Gathering spawn from stagnant summer pools
In jam jar aquariums,
We watched the metamorphosis occur.
Young scientists we were.
Croke's field was transformed into the Alamo.
Each one, his own identity screamed out
Famous names would shoot and die,
Adolescent actors.
Exploring the Moate with Cromwell's men,
We knew it better than the natives,
We made more noise,
What had we to fear?
The innocence of youth reigned within us.
Warm evenings spent swimming the Avonree
Before pollution and industrial waste had stopped our play.
Off to the sally wood with bow and arrows
To seek out victims never there
Still we watched the clock out of respect
Or did we fear our parents?
They too were at a cross-roads
Watching us grow up before their eyes
Urging us in the right direction.
It worked for some, but rebels fell the other side
The sheep that went astray
Through misguidance or stupidity
They too had their day.
We changed with the times, got older and wiser,
Now I understand the responsibility and sacrifice
That once I had ignored.