Sprinkling Relief
That blurry mirage of sizzling heat
As the trucks passed by, steam rose from concrete
Irvington couldn’t build a swimming pool
But came up with a way to keep kids cool
How I begged my mother to make the walk
For three hours of laughs and silly talk
At noon kids gathered in a cement pit
Sprinklers turned on, we enjoyed each minute
Refreshed, we passed beach balls or we played tag
But mostly we just ran a jig-and-jag
The park had swings, slides and arts and crafts too
But at sprinkler time, none of these would do
In the years before air conditioning
Torrid rays of sun we kids were shunning
Inner city children escaping heat
This was our favorite summer retreat
Moms, kids in swimsuits till showers ended
Ice pops passed out to the towel-tended
On weekends Dad drove us to the seashore
But sprinkler days with Mom I remember more
*For the “Hot Time, Summer in the City” contest
Copyright © Carolyn Devonshire | Year Posted 2012
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