Another Time, Another Place

I’m painfully aware as I regress down memory lane That scene’s of my childhood slowly begin to wane As I strive to recall them from the labyrinth of my brain It was a time of innocence, of carefree happy days Of childish pranks and mischief and summer holidays Our doors were never locked, we children all ran free And oh what fun we had riding the Calliope We played stick ball, cops and robbers and other childish games We roasted chestnuts by the fire, tossing pine cones in the flames We showed respect to teachers…mine happened to be nuns We had never heard of pedophiles, no one came to school with guns Schools were a place of learning and we had nothing to fear (Certainly not a shooting gallery conducted by our peers!) We always loved our country and saluted the flag with pride And when President Roosevelt died, I remember how we cried Whenever we misbehaved it was made very clear Parents were in charge as they swat us on the rear Respect was a given…. trust was to be earned You took the measure of a man by the values that he learned Another time…another place …civility is no more And marriage, I’m sad to say, is just a swinging door Childish pranks have changed a bit…selling drugs is done with pride Gangs roam the streets, shooting rivals who try to hide Parents are no longer in charge…children can’t help but fail Spanking is called abuse now, and they would land in jail! Mother’s who would have died for them, now covet gin or crack And babies are left alone to wonder if they’re ever coming back Every generation thinks that theirs was the best I’m so happy to have lived then…I’ve truly been blest Another time…another place…I’m afraid it is no more Yet I’m eager to hang around to see what the future has in store