5.31.2014

Mister Machine, Hoppy

and six guns, Barbie

and Playdoh

GI Joe

childhood frozen in

long afternoons

of trying to make the

Etch-a-Sketch run.

Lionel, Flyers, coasters

and wires, knowledge

of more than just bicycle

tires

as ways to go out

to the world’s bigger

places, where Tom

Corbett patrols amidst

vertical spaces.

where Roy and his pals

never let our hopes down

and penguins and mouses

lifted hearts up from frowns.

I miss them, I pat them from

memory now, the toys that

gave joy, that fed life

‘cross my bow

the content has changed

they no longer go bang

and yet when I’m honest

they still smoke

in my hand.

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