Harvey's Broiler Kids by Bob Atkinson

"Harvey's Broiler Kids”

(c)2010 Bob Atkinson

tell us all the way we were

tell us your stories of the old

of Friday nights after the game

at Harvey's so long ago

tell us of Bellflower Boulevard

Tweedy and Whittier on the east

Bandini with its races

and stout hemi's of our beasts

tell us of the things we did

Zezula with his hearse

and Paul, who's limo battery

gave up the ghost that night

tell us of the stories

the simple things we did

that made us laugh and gave us

the old memories we have

the things we did on Agra

we didn't do for fun

to us it was hard work

and from John Law we did run

we shudder when we think

of risks that we took

the motorcycles and fast cars

and the cops with their

ticket books

of VietNam and Germany

of the Navy rather than jail

of jobs and starts of adult life

and which career to take

of colleges that tried to make us smart

but failed in that goal

and yet gave us parchment

that said we're good to go

now it gives us pleasure

that we made it this far

because some didn't live to see

two thousand with a ten at all

me, as I fade back my wishes

and begin to enjoy what I have

no longer desire to see

my name in neon lights

because of things I did or have

because that wouldn't do

or because it isn't possible

with the tools I've used

it's not as much for ego

though that is part of it

it's to leave some little thing

to survive when I depart

the clubs we belonged to

the friends we made and kept

and through the long divorces

and births of kids so grand

and those we cannot believe

are still married

from high school until now

don't know how they did it

all I can say is “wow”

tell me how I lived my life

have I been good or bad

or somewhere in between

doing the best with what I had