Home Again

The original poem was written ten years ago in honor of my dad's 65th birthday. I updated it a second time when he passed away three years ago on Halloween. Love, ya, Dad!



 "Home Again"
 By: Claudette M. Moran
As I'm driving down this lonely stretch of
 blacktop on old Highway 10,
 I smell a whiff of tobacco smoke
 that takes me back again.
 To a time and place,
 Where four little kids
 ruled the world,
From the back seat of a '67 Chev.
 They never thought of the future.
 To them, life was here and now.
Because they could look outside the window,
 And know that they'd be home again.
 A time and place, to Minneapolis,
 To Miller's and Grandma and Grandpa Erdman's
 houses, to play with cousins and friends.
 And Grandma would have chips and Pepsi Light
 to eat and drink. And pack away tootsie pops
 and lemon drops, to eat later at home.
A time and place, a picnic on the farm.
And my oldest and dearest friend,
Would watch in amazement, as my daddy
 Would roll his own. And proclaim in a
Loud voice, "Wow Jill, you're growing
 like a weed!"
 A time and place, on tire swing,
 Hanging from an old oak tree.
 And I would pump as hard as I could,
To see how high I could fly.
 A time and place, in the car,
 You could smell a skunk from a far.
 And a younger brother would yell,
"Who farted?!?", and we'd all laugh and giggle!
 A time and place, where the radio air waves,
 Would play songs from the Carpenters, Eagles,
 and Frank Sinatra,
and a spooky story from the Radio Mystery
 Theater, narated by E.G. Marshall,
And another younger brother would yell,
 "Turn off the radio, Daddy! I'm really scared!"
A time and place, where'd we run through the
 pig pen, and make a mess in the house.
 And the little brothers would gang up on
 older sister, and shoot cap guns in her ears,
 While "Sesame Street" and "The Brady Bunch",
 Would play on the old black and white.
 A time and place, in the car, as we would
 Listen to my daddy sing,
Songs like "Oh Susanna" ,"Home on the
 Range", and "The Cowboy's Lament".
 And look out the window and wonder why, the deer
 Are not at play. And then see the lights of the
 drive in theater, and know that we're almost
home, which isn't far now.
 A time and place, which is here in my car.
 An old beat up Pontiac Grand Am, goin' down Old 371.
 A time and place, in the station wagon,
and a four year old younger sister yells,
 "Almost home! I see Sinski's house!"
 A time and place, which is here and now,
 And yes today, the deer are at play.
 And my daddy is singing another refrain,
 of "Home on the Range", while smoking a pipe.
 A time and place, here and now. I smell the
 whiff of tobacco smoke again. And I know in
 my heart, that my daddy is praying for me, to
make it safely, Home Again.
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