Childhood Memories

The little two-room schoolhouse On the North Dakota plains Was the source of education And of smaller joys and pains. In the North Dakota winters We spent recesses inside. And sometimes in the basement For a game of seek and hide. So much nicer in the springtime When we took our games outside. We would laugh as we were swinging On the playground Giant Stride. The swings were made of steel or iron And if one swing wasn’t ridden. It could fly around and hit us. Giant Strides are now forbidden. In the days when we must stay in Because of too much rain or snow, At the noon hour after eating, To the basement we would go. One time when we were down there, I fell hard on the cement. I wouldn’t show my bruises But I’m sure there was a dent. That evening when my daddy asked, “How did it go at school?” I told him I had fallen As the tears began to pool. “Where did you get hurt little daughter?” I wondered at his merriment And why he thought it funny When I said, “In the basement.”