Once Upon A Time

Once Upon a Time

It was 1967, known as the “Summer of Love”.
I tune in to AM top 40 radio, teenage fairy tales.
Smiling about secrets I don’t yet know,
Teary eyes for lost lovers in “a whiter shade of pale”

Years zoom by, rock records trend.
Radio spins albums, dancing in a teen dive.
Slow ballads, intimate personal affairs.
Warm sensations, my body, sexually alive.

Sure I was in love, virginity soon gone.
Growing up,1960’s teenager in naive Babylon.
Marriage, a golden trophy for women then.
College, one place to scout successful men.

My love and I eloped, no white wedding for me.
Vows said in earnest, awarded a marriage degree.
Till death do we part, an elusive date with mortality.
Youth, a future of hope and roses for thee and me.

I want an A grade for doing it right.
Two healthy sons, lovingly breastfed into soft night.
Brick home in the burbs, worked, cleaned, hardly a fight.
One day, it struck me I’d vanished right out of sight.

Hang in there, some dreams are dust in the wind.
Most mornings bring joy, a bright sun.
Marriage, a roller coaster, years seem to fly.
Life is hard work, family love, joy to justify.

Pause to listen, serene lyrics of Tai Shan.
On a holy mountain in China, magic in the air.
In the golden light of Autumn, it sang to me.
Peaceful time of harvest, a song of eternity.

Everyday is often a same ole song of strife.
Take time to meditate on the very wonder of life.
To find a lost piece of music, hope of our youth.
Once we glimpse heaven, unblemished truth.

By Kathie Stehr
July 23, 2021
32 lines-Writer's Cramp Winner