Monday Poetry Train #25

Those Were the Days
by Joy Renee

Those were the days
When the sky blushed blue;
When the grass grinned green;
When birds sang true.
Those were the days
Love groomed my heart;
Trust bloomed my spirt;
Joy grew unfettered.
Those were the days
My soul sang Gloria;
My eyes saw clear;
My dreams soared.
Those were the days,
I was Daddy's delight;
I was Mama's eyeshine;
I was little brother's guide;
I was baby sister's glee.

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I've posted this one twice already but had nearly forgotten about it because I don't have a copy in any of my files--paper or electronic. I wrote it right in the blogger platform on September 23rd and posted it on the 24th to commemorate the first anniversary of my Dad's passing. Then in late May in honor of his birthday (the second one without him) I did my TT on memories of him and reposted this poem. Rhian saw it that week and invited me aboard the Poetry Train.

I'm reposting it today in honor of my own birthday. After today it will be four years before I can write a 4 when noting down my age. Yes, that means I'm been half a century breathing earth's air.

In the picture, taken late summer 1964, I am seven and three-quarters, my brother has just turned six and my baby sister is about a month to six weeks. That hydrangea bush I'm sitting in front of had the most gorgeous blue and purple flowers; some nearly as big as my head at that age. I've loved hydrangea from my earliest memories. I remember being thrilled earlier that year when I got to move into that bedroom looking out onto that bush when my parents moved out of it and into the new addition.

My brother and I had shared a room since I was 22 months old. He got one of the new rooms because Mom wanted to keep him closer for awhile. About a year to 18 months after this picture was taken, my sister moved in and I didn't have a room of my own again until my brother left for tech school in 1977 and my sister moved into his room. I gave up my privacy 13 months later when I got married, December 2, 1978.