To Andre

Remember when we were young

So many summers ago

How we’d sit and watch the days go by

With no cares in the world

Remember how we used to play those games

Making up ridiculous characters

Of both enemies and friends

We used to take the dog for long walks

Running through the long grass together

Chasing anything and everything

Do you remember too?

Remember our childhood innocence

Where have those days gone?

Remember how we used to sit

In the garden telling tales

Of wondrous and fantastic dreams

Each one better than the last

Remember the one about Popeye

How he saved you from that train

Presenting you, afterwards, with tins of spinach

Remember our childhood dreams

Remember our wigwam?

You were chief, of course

Only natural as you were the older one

You were my “big bruv!!”

Remember the day by the sea?

When I squashed ice cream on your face

Actually I quite enjoyed it

But I don’t think you did

Can you remember how we used to fight?

The outcome was always predictable

You’d always win

And there was me in tears

Remember those winter days?

When the snow used to come

How we’d eagerly rush outside

And build a snowman

After completing our work of art

We’d have a snow fight

Which didn’t last long

For I’d flee for the warmth

Of the house and a warm drink inside

And you? You’d roll in half an hour later

Victorious to the last

Like Scott of The Antarctic

Proving boys the stronger ones

Can you remember those days?

I remember them with fondness

For those were the days of our childhood

Treasured memories of the past

© Andrea Coltman