I took a walk down yesterday
Just to reminisce awhile
Of childhood games
Forgotten playmates’ names
And memories that make me smile

Strolling through Johnson Bottom
Made a lump form in my throat
Remembering good old days
And Christmas plays
When aging seemed so remote

Stopping at the Fletcher house
Seeing June and Milton there
In their coal camp shack
Below the railroad track
The children so young and fair

Across the lane was our old house
Where another loving family dwelled
Mother rocking Lavaughn
Daddy with work clothes on
Precious memories in my heart swelled

Brothers and sisters played in the yard
Games of hopscotch, marbles and tag
Neighbor kids joined the play
On that hot, summer day
As we listened to the old men brag

The Dotsons, Esteps, Roses and Wards
All their houses still looked the same
Women doing chores
Hanging laundry outdoors
It seemed that nothing had changed

The sound of the tipple as it processed coal
The rattle and the dust so common
Men risking their lives
For their children and wives
Was the life in Johnson Bottom

Sitting on the porch when the work was done
As Daddy played “Wildwood Flower”
With his guitar ringing
And our voices all singing
‘Twas a fun way to while away the hours

It seemed as if time had stood still
My heart lost in this reverie
With twilight falling
I heard the present calling
Into this place called memory

Kathleen McCoy Eldridge©
March 14, 2008
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