Echoes Of Summer Nights Poem by Valerie Lennox

Playing in the streets, chalk lines on the warm tar
A bat and ball…an old tin can for wickets.
Climbing over garden walls stealing peaches
Plump, sweet, juice running down our chins
And as the street lamps jump to life our mothers call us in.

Those summer nights of childhood, echoes of a time
When all that mattered was having fun
And our only fear was the bogey man
Hiding under the bed.

Sitting on the beach, driftwood bonfire sends sparks towards the stars
Cool sand between our toes, blankets, coffee and forbidden beer
Holding hands, fumbling, exploring and someone strums a guitar
We sing along House of the Rising Sun,
And the breeze grows cool and we snuggle down under blankets.

Those summer nights of our teens, stretching to dawn
Of whispers and secrets and our waking bodies
Midnight movies and sneaking out
Creeping home before light.