green valley

catefrances

she walks through the laneways
back to her childhood
the broken bottles caught the sun
and glittered like jewels
that the people around here could never afford
she walks past sagging fences weighed down by bougainvillea and honeysuckle
past the park where she had her frist kiss
she remembers a time when kids ruled the streets
when they were kings and queens of all they surveyed
and no where was out of bounds
from the pig farm below the reservoir all the way down mountain misery to the creek where the tadpoles lived
and where once she found a sun bleached skull and pretended it was human instead of the canine it turned out to be
the hills seem smaller, the distances shorter back then
the houses are older and so is she
the old greeks and italians have left
replaced by pacific islanders and lebanese and indians
she loves to hear all the words she doesnt understand
and smell food her mother never cooked that she now does
she walks past her old school surrounded now by a high security fence
past the spot where the old public phonebox stood
she recalls riding her bike down the middle of the street with no hands
and a bravado a nine year old should never be allowed to get away with
but back then we did. we got away with a lot of things
she crosses the soccer field and slides down the mudbank of the creek with more inelegance than she ever showed as a girl
this was the way shed walk to netball practice
secretted from the rest of the world
pretending she was on some great adventure and back then she was
their lives were one big adventure
her parents were too busy working hard to make what she took for granted materialise as if by magic to kow what went on
and so she and her brother and sisters had all they ever needed or wanted
there was always bikes and backyard swimming pools, annual holidays up the coast
and weekend trips to the beach and out west to historic towns to visit nan
they were born swimming she was sure of it
jumping off the neighbours garage into the pool was the simple thrill
the more turns you took the wetter and slipperier the corrugated asbestos roof got
but that was part of the risk wasnt it? not knowing if their next step would have them falling off the roof
or if the grip would hold so they could launch themselves the 8 or 9 feet it took to make a splashdown
if the distance wasnt made the possibility of crashing onto the wooden fence was very real
and no one wanted to have to explain to irate parents what happened if a trip to the hospital became necessary
fortunately it never did. we grew out of that simple thrill before fate intervened
unfortunately we all have to grow up and that’s a fate no one can get away from

catefrances

she walks through the laneways
back to her childhood
the broken bottles caught the sun
and glittered like jewels
that the people around here could never afford
she walks past sagging fences weighed down by bougainvillea and honeysuckle
past the park where she had her frist kiss
she remembers a time when kids ruled the streets
when they were kings and queens of all they surveyed
and no where was out of bounds
from the pig farm below the reservoir all the way down mountain misery to the creek where the tadpoles lived
and where once she found a sun bleached skull and pretended it was human instead of the canine it turned out to be
the hills now seem smaller, the distances shorter than back then
the houses are older and so is she
the old greeks and italians have left
replaced by pacific islanders and lebanese and indians
she loves to hear all the words she doesnt understand
and smell food her mother never cooked that she now does
she walks past her old school surrounded now by a high security fence
past the spot where the old public phonebox stood
she recalls riding her bike down the middle of the street with no hands
and a bravado a nine year old should never be allowed to get away with
but back then we did. we got away with a lot of things
she crosses the soccer field and slides down the mudbank of the creek with more inelegance than she ever showed as a girl
this was the way shed walk to netball practice
secretted from the rest of the world
pretending she was on some great adventure and back then she was
their lives were one big adventure
her parents were too busy working hard to make what she took for granted materialise as if by magic to kow what went on
and so she and her brother and sisters had all they ever needed or wanted
there was always bikes and backyard swimming pools, annual holidays up the coast
and weekend trips to the beach and out west to historic towns to visit nan
they were born swimming she was sure of it
jumping off the neighbours garage into the pool was the simple thrill
the more turns you took the wetter and slipperier the corrugated asbestos roof got
but that was part of the risk wasnt it? not knowing if their next step would have them falling off the roof
or if the grip would hold so they could launch themselves the 8 or 9 feet it took to make a splashdown
if the distance wasnt made the possibility of crashing onto the wooden fence was very real
and no one wanted to have to explain to irate parents what happened if a trip to the hospital became necessary
fortunately it never did. we grew out of that simple thrill before fate intervened
unfortunately we all have to grow up and that’s a fate no one can get away from