Directions

 

                                                                     

 

I sit to watch the children playing where I played, as

   a small child, on the school's playground

I swing again on the jungle gym that I once fell off of

   and broke my nose

Beyond the fence, which wasn't there in my smaller days,

   is a wooded glen with the creek where I used

   catch crayfish

If you follow the water, you'll end up next to the baseball

   field, where I spent my summers and the houses

   that I watched them build

Behind those houses are the ones where I grew up

From there you follow the fence that was meant to keep

   us out off the road but didn't

Go past the swimming pool on whose diving board I broke

   my nose a second time

Keep next to the fence until you get to the hole, still

   there and big enough to crawl through

On the other side is a pond, nothing special, even the

   ducks don't go there

Walk around the pond and you'll see two posts connected

   by a chain, to keep the cars out

You can swing on the chain, if you want, but I wouldn't

   because I fell off it once, though I didn't

   break anything

Follow the road, past the house where my best friend used

   to live

Cross the four-lane road, very carefully because the cars

   might not stop

Walk up the steep hill between the apartment buildings

   and turn left

Ignore the playground and pool on the right, I never played

   there anyway

Second to the last apartment building, second floor, door

   in front of the stairs, be sure to pet the

   cat when you come in

These are the directions my life has taken