Back to the street where I lived
In the city as a child
The estate filled with bashed in cars;
Dog shit on the grass.

Sun filled Saturdays playing BMX Bandits
'round blocks of flats.
Sunday roasts wafting from windows
As I sit on the dead lawn in summer.

Mum shouts out the window
And I run into the piss infested stairwell
Drunks on the steps, drooling, swearing
As I skip past, oblivious to adulthood.

The best days spent playing in the roads
Car fumes blocking my asthmatic lungs
Roller skate Sundays. Penny chews
Strawberry shortcakes mixed with smog.

Innocent imaginings, games and adventures
on garage roofs.
Rope swings, dens and muddy knees
Mixed with all my city smells.

Charlotte Scadeng © August 2007

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