Facebook inspires a new poem: Little Boy Blue

            The Willow Grove Naval Air Base closed in 2013. Read about it in Wiki.

When my kids and I lived in the apartments we would hear the planes roaring overhead.

When we moved into our yellow house, same thing.

When I went on FB tonite, the group "I Grew Up in Willow Grove" popped up. I don't know any of these people, but one woman wrote that she and her family would make night runs to view the planes.

"What a beautiful thing to do," I wrote, knowing immediately I'd write a poem about it.

I pictured my mom's beautiful figurines as I wrote it. You just never know where ideas come from. It took only five minutes to write.





LITTLE BOY BLUE

I was the little sister
the tag-along
our little yellow house
would shake when
they flew overhead,
mom’s knickknacks
quivered on the
mantel. One time
Little Boy Blue tumbled off
onto the carpet
I kissed his broken arm
and mom repaired it
with sweet-smelling
cement

Nights
brother Jimmy would
call: Bundle up
we’re going out.
I ran to the closet
and slipped on my
red jacket and hood

C’mon Little Red Riding
Hood, Jimmy called, grabbing
my hand. Behind us Bonnie
and Holly, both larger
than me, followed along.

Be careful! yelled mom.
Dad sat smoking a pipe and
reading his newspaper.

Darkness fell like a
long black hearse
and my hands clapped
my ears, they made so
much noise.

Airplanes! Coming in
for a landing down the
street at the Naval Base.
They looked like huge lit-up
bumblebees, buzzing their
way through the sky
and down to the runway.

Hurry, cried Jimmy and
we ran, four tiny figures
watching the planes
come in. Did the pilot
see me wave? I stood
near the fence on my
tippy-toes waving with
all my might. 

Is that why Jimmy decided
to go to war? Iraq. The Afghan.
We waited for his letters to
arrive. We waited and waited.
Was he a prisoner? Was he
alive? His picture sat on our
mantel piece. The Navy Base
had closed, so things no
longer vibrated. One day
as we sat in the living room
watching television, the door
bell rang. We knew from the
movies what that meant.
We were wrong.
The man from the photo
walked in the door, blue eyes
blazing.