Once When We Were Young
This is the sort of poem I would write for children. But I hope you enjoy reading it; my memories of when I was young.
There was Percy who was ten.And Noel who was seven.And the tiny one of five was me. We played together come rain or shine.We had showers in the rain.I got told off by mother as I was often ill. I used to tag along in bare feet.In the paddy fields of old Ceylon,Where I wasn’t allowed to go. We Caught fish in the ponds.Once we dropped one in our well.We watched it grow and when it was big,Drew it out from the bucket and put it back in the pond. We played rounders.I always lost,Got wacked on my bottom by the tennis ball.The boys were thrilled by my shrieks. I loved playing marbles with them.There again I always came last,As I couldn’t aim very well. I was a good sport and didn’t mind losing games.But used to get upset when they hit me with the ball.And once I left the game. The only way to get me back in the game,was a bag of ten cents sweets.I ignored them but the way they flavoured,I couldn’t resist to get back in the game. We made lots of fun things.Kites that flew high.Go carts with tin wheels.And Percy was an expert,In making catapults. We used to take our go carts.Around our garden with packed lunch my mother gave.We made up stories as we went along.After all we were The Famous Three! We had a chicken coop in our garden.We loved gathering eggs.And watch the chickens being hatched.And I used to follow the mother hen and chicks when I was all alone. When the monsoon rains came down,We would tie a sheet round the dining table.Pretended we were in Iceland,Although there was no snow. We played ball game inside the house.Once we broke a fish made of China.It was one of three fish and we killed the mother fish.We didn’t tell our father; we knew the punishment would be harsh. My father never noticed that one fish was missing,As he was a very busy man.It was only when we were grown up,We told father that we broke one of his fish. The suburban village we lived is now a major town in Sri Lanka.No more ponds and I heard the beautiful paddy fields are no more.They have built houses and shops and all the beauty has gone. My brothers have their own families.I haven’t seen them for years,As the distance is far apart. The closeness we had sadly was once upon a time.But my love still remains the same.And my memories are fresh in my head,How once when we were young.