Finding Marbles

Strewn to the floor he collected his marbles and memories Had played for hours as a child with his friends in the flat Passed innumerable hours never bored always enthralled Abraded by wear of near instant replay nostalgia flashes past A time of Innocence and Recall of pure Joy Collecting from lucky packets from the five and dime store He cherished his treasures and assembled a wealth of its own Built a shiny smooth fortune traded with his mates from next door Never lost sight of his satchel clinking and clonking at every stride Foundations of Wealth and Possessions They only had a small space on the floor boards smelling of wax Polished the wood and their skills on their knees with great care Rolled the little balls one at a time to get the closest to the wall Practised side spins straight lines curve balls ingenious bounce Perfection and Victory held their suspense But the little buggers appeared to have a devious thrall of their own Fell into knotholes swerved back to where they had come from Ricocheted recoiled or stayed idle deviated from inglorious norms Some disappeared in the pantry just in time for a substandard deviation Snookered in unintended Diversity Today he respects outliers and dispersion from a delusive tendency Cherishes and embraces people and places and different paradigms Which include eccentricity oddballs and nonconformist dissidents Finds beauty in a spread of reasons emotions and different drifts When Loneliness strikes he looks fondly at his Marbles 28th June 2019