Never It
By John Herlihy

I never won at musical chairs,
Though I really tried as one who cares.
My two older brothers left me behind;
They broke into old houses with their own kind.
I reluctantly inherited their tedious paper route,
Delivering newspapers every day and Sunday to boot.
My two sisters excelled in doing their chores;
I groaned my way thru waxing hard wood floors.
The neighborhood kids had first ride in uncle’s new car;
The sense of abandonment I felt became a lasting scar.

While others frolicked through fallen autumn leaves,
I was buried alive with only my nose exposed to breathe.
In winter, building a snowman turned into rollicking fun,
I ended up pelted with snowballs under the cold winter sun.
While others held hands and danced around the May pole,
I got blindfolded and stuffed unknowingly into a barrel roll.
When my older brothers joined the military and left the fold
I was left behind empty-handed without their hand to hold
In hide and seek on rainy days, I wasn’t found and never quit,
When we played tag with our visiting cousins, I was never it.

The trials and tribulations of a childhood soul never give way;
They quietly take up residence in the soul and never go away.