The Young Years

I hear them laughing next door, Two young families, Just back from a day at the beach, Although it is well after dark. They are on vacation, and It isn’t their fault that we Now go to bed so early. They are only talking, but The conversation is punctuated By bursts of hilarious laughter. I close my eyes and remember Similar years, long ago. Two families, six kids and Sometimes visiting friends - Not quiet, a little rowdy, Not thinking of the neighbors I’m sorry to say, but parents And children having fun together. Dinners with clams and mussels And much joshing and mirth, Many evenings the young folk, And sometimes the grown-ups, Played cards or board games On the screened in side porch - Monopoly, Clue, but it was Mostly Mille Bornes that I recall. The teenagers would play for hours, Getting more and more excited. I can still hear them shouting “Coup fourre! Coup fourre!” And jumping up and cheering. It’s pretty quiet here nowadays. And I often miss those times, But I can relive them in my mind When my next door neighbors Are living it up on the porch!