Popeye and Gumby

The cartoon characters of my childhood,

Personified innocence and carefree days,

But now they parade on the tee shirts,

Of pre-pubescent children walking the halls of my school.

Gumby is wearing a cross and chain,

His upper body leans back in a swagger;

One hand is thrown up like a rap-star gangster,

And his baggy pants and sunglasses seem obscene.

Pokey, my favorite (thank God), is nowhere to be seen.

And then there is Popeye, my spinach gulping hero,

Now decked out in an oversized shirt,

With a ball cap sitting crooked on the top of his head,

And the word, "Recognize" underneath.

So, like so much of what symbolized my youth,

The green clay Gumby and the hand drawn Popeye,

As I knew them, now are gone,

With so much more of life once held dear.