Before The Internet

By Richard MacNeill

peppermint and clove

toyhood nostalgia

all around our true hometown

no time was more free

before the internet

only bikes, trees, and flowers

outside all day every day

we all had superpowers

and football, skateboard, roadrash

smashing grapefruits we thought were giant lemons

and sucking out the sunlight juice

the hot street burning our bare feet

shirtless summers

wait after you eat one hour, but we wouldn’t

swimming merkind in sapphire waters

building forts and hide-outs

dirt clod wars at the creek after school

I still know all the hidden places

By Richard MacNeill