It has been awhile since catnip participated in Kellie Elmore’s Free Write Friday. When I read the topic for today’s writing, The Street I Grew Up On, I could not let it pass by without a walk down memory lane. As thoughts shifted back and forth in memory, several images passed through my mind. In the poem below I do hope I have captured the essence and sadness of East Fourth Street.
* * * * * * * * * *
East Fourth Street
(Donalsonville, GA)
Similar street in Donaldsonville, LA
(Interesting coincidence in town name)
A narrow street
First began as dirt
Straight as an arrow
Always on alert
Watchful as children
Walked to and fro
Kicking up dust
Without shadow
Bumpy along sides
Longing for rain
Rutted and worn
A rough domain
Through the years
Change remade
What once was dirt
Now was paved
Where once I walked
Now a bike trod
Over gravel and stone
It plod and plod
A quick turn
Slid across stone
Cuts and bruises
No broken bone
Gravel and rock
Did meet its fate
Covering of asphalt
Brought it up-to-date
Lined with oaks
Massive on scene
Intense in beauty
Regal of queen
Forces of nature
Hurling all around
With mighty fury
Ripped the ground
A narrow street
Barren along each side
Bears only ghosts
Where mighty oaks once thrived
©2012
catnipoflife
“Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love,
the things you are, the things you never want to lose.”
~From the television show The Wonder Years
catnipoflife 
This is beautiful.
Thank you for visiting catnip and I am so glad you liked the poem. I visited your site and left comments:>)
That was another excellent post today. You make it look so easy. Thanks so much for sharing. I really enjoyed reading it very much. Have a wonderful day!
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Thank you for the visit and I do hope you will visit again soon:>)
I sure will. Feel free to stop by anytime. I enjoy meeting writers from all over.
Beautiful poem!! I love the streets that have the trees cross the road and join branches–like when we were kids and made hand tunnels to run under.
Micki
That is why it was so sad! I loved walking and riding my bike under the hugh branches. It look so barren now with all the trees swept away! I do have my memories though:>)
I am so in awe of poets. How do you do it Sharla? And the beautiful picture of the street. I would love to walk down that street. Good stuff. All the best, Mary Firmin, author Deadly Pleasures
Mary, thank you so much for visiting and for the comments. When I saw Kelly’s prompt this afternoon, I couldn’t help but flash back to East Fourth Street. It was truly beautiful when I was growing up. Now, with those majestic oaks gone, it may the same street but not the same aura.
Beautiful poem. It brings back awesome memories of childhood. Glad I joined your blog. Check out mine at http://www.copyexpertise.com/blog for insights about writing, editing, and copywriting.
Thanks,
Dawn Baird
Thank you, Dawn, for the comments and the following. I visited your blog and joined as a follower. Looking forward to our visits:>)
Awesome thanks for joining mine, looking forward to reading your stuff.
Dawn
what a heartbreak – chopping down trees is like killing a special planetary consciousness.
Your road is / was like a cathedral
It was beautiful! Imagining an oak lined street demonstrates how powerful the hurricanes can be for the trees were ripped up from their roots. It is truly sad when I travel down that street today BUT there are some wonderful memories:>)
Wow! The street we lived on was dirt at first, too. It was an amazing thing to see! The picture of the tree lined street is beautiful (we didn’t have those in Arizona where I grew up), and it’s sad to know they are gone now. But things like that happen, and life goes on. Wonderful write and post!
Thank you, Charles, for visiting catnip and leaving comments. I visited your site, which is GREAT, and started following. Left comments for you!
Bonjour Sharla. I love this poem and its description. I had the feeling of being there in that street.
Have a good weekend 🙂
English
French
Spanish
Merci, Gys! That was exactly the feeling I hoped to express:>)
I have no clue why the extra words! Cyber ghost is active today…LOL:>)
Such a touching post Sharla. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for visiting, Peggy. It is always a pleasure to have you kick back with catnip:>)
That is so beautiful! We still have all our trees, but the neighborhood just a few blocks away has now been replaced by a shopping center and our two lane highway has been replaced by a major Interstate. Personally, I prefer the rustic and I think we have more than enough shopping centers!
Did you ever nail it! Enough already with the shopping malls!!! Let’s save and keep the trees:>) They are much more welcoming that an asphalt/concrete jungle!
Lovely poem. Never thought of writing about this. Thinking about the street we grew up on does create a kind of nostalgia. Mine hasn’t changed much, yet only a section of the house I grew up in remains.
Thank you for stopping by for a visit and especially for leaving comments. The house I grew up in is still here but the people who own it do not take care of it at all. Makes me wish I could just buy it and remodel it. It is a very small house with lots of potential:>)
Not only did you take me by the hand and lead me down your street with such beautiful descriptions but, you sang to me along the way with this wonderfully melodic rhyme! What a great contribution to this weeks prompt! Pleased to have it included! Thank you so much for writing with us again! ♥
Thank you, Kelly, for your kind words. All I had to do was read the prompt and I was walking along East Fourth Street as a child. ♥
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