The closest park is

Almost a mile away 

And so Dad built

A little playhouse

With a swing set

And a slide

In the backyard.

I watched him 

Create it.

He let me hammer

Some parts

Under his

Careful supervision.

Dad was so happy

To build it...

And I was

Happy To

Help.

Even though,

I was mostly

Just passing tools

To him.

Dad doesn’t

Build me things

Anymore. 

But how I loved that swing set,

Because when I was home from

School me and my brother

Would play 

Fantastical games.

We would transform into 

Superheroes, 

Cavemen,

Time travelers,

And so much more. 

Our favourite game

Combined all three,

And had imaginary

Dinosaurs,

Villains,

And spiders 10 feet tall.

Of course

We defeated 

Them all

Together.

My brother doesn’t 

Play those games

Anymore.

Mom used to join us,

Pushing us on 

The swing set,

And letting us

Fly away,

And then catching 

Us when we

Fell back to earth.

She would sneak

Tidbits of 

Education into

The game.

Doing

Things like

Teaching us history

To meddle with 

As time travelers,

She had us

Count out

The number of

Years we went

Back in time.

Mom doesn’t 

Really teach us

Anymore. 

And when I made

A friend

She came over 

Almost everyday.

She was my best friend.

One time, 

She brought another friend,

And our group of two 

Became 3.

Our adventurous spirits

Lead us into trouble -

Like the time we

Found a missing dog

And hid it under

The wooden deck,

We fed it beef jerky.

When our parents

Found the poor dog,

We were in 

A ton of trouble,

But we endured it

Together. 

They don’t

Come over 

Anymore.

A few years ago,

The swingset 

Was taken down…

I wish it 

Could’ve lasted

Longer, 

Because I wanted

To play on it

One more time…

I wanted to

Swing into the sky,

To slide down in

Awkward positions,

To go get into

Troublesome 

Adventures 

With my friends,

To Count the years

So I could

Go back to

A different time,

And be chased

By imaginary 

Beasts and villains…

To pass my

Dad tools

As he fixed

And built 

Something

Special with a 

Joyful grin. 

But the swing

Had become 

Dangerous,

A monkey bar

Had snapped

In half,

The wooden

Ladder was 

Decaying,

The slide

And tarp had

Fallen off… 

And I don’t

Play those

Games

Anymore.