marbles were still moonstones
saved in a Crown Royal pouch
comics, adventures in a cardboard box
beneath your bed to read when you wanted
magnets and magnifying glass
under summer sunshine
trolling curbside refuse for treasure
long days of discovery walking
alley trails and marshes
secret paths behind old fence lines
where buried caches of our trove lay hidden
balancing on rusty railroad tracks
through backlots of foundries
far enough from home
you could boast being an explorer
close enough to run back if you had to
Joseph A Farina is a retired lawyer and award winning poet, and a pushcart nominee. His poems have appeared in Philadelphia Poets, Tower Poetry, The Windsor Review, and Tamaracks: Canadian Poetry for the 21st Century. He has three books of poetry published: The Cancer Chronicles, The Ghosts of Water Street and The beach, the street and everything in between.