.

Let Them Go

Children born around the world
__some fifty years ago
were free to roam and run and hide,
__to ramble high and low.
The bigger people stayed inside
__and never really knew
how far the little children went
__in search of something new.

They found a cave and stepped inside
__to see what they could see,
and no one said Don’t Go In There.
__They knew that they were free.
They found a castle on a hill
__and tried to build a fort.
They navigated by the stars
__and sailed back into port.
They swam with porpoises at sea
__and gathered glistening shells.
They climbed the stairs inside a tower
__and rang the church’s bells.
They sometimes saw a monster snake
__and sometimes skinned their knees.
They got kidnapped by pirate ships
__and often stung by bees.

And then the orange setting sun
__would tell them it was best
to wend their way back to the house,
__to fly back to the nest.
They grew up knowing they could choose
__to go this way or that,
and mom would smile knowingly
__and dad would tip his hat
to children who would face the world
__with courage and with grace,
who may not win but never doubt
__that they are in the race.

.

.

Elise Power is from West Virginia and lives in Pittsburgh PA.  She draws portraits and caricatures, paints, plays bluegrass music and rides her horse Okeefenokee.  A retired teacher of French and Spanish, she now enjoys substitute teaching.  She has been a member of Pittsburgh Poetry Exchange since the 1990s and is a member of West Virginia Writers.

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12 Responses

  1. Paul Freeman

    Oh, the nostalgia! A lovely poem that gallops along.

    Thanks for a cheery read, Elsie.

    Reply
  2. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Elise, this is a great poem of childhood and play time way back when it was not only considered to safe to play anywhere but was also essential in the molding of young men and women. We have lost so much!

    Reply
  3. robert elkins

    Thank you, Elise, for reminding me of the careless freedoms of a long-ago childhood. They were better times, eh?

    Reply
  4. Jeremiah Johnson

    Elise, I like how you don’t feel the need to come around at the end and bemoan the state of childhood today. How you let it be implicit and manage to end on an inspiring note! That, and your description of the events of childhood in the second stanza was delightfully expressed 🙂

    Reply
    • elise power

      Jeremiah,
      Thanks! Yes, I was trying to have a positive, hopeful ending without directly criticizing current parents (although many of them are stifling their kids’ growing up.) I’m so glad you enjoyed the poem. Elise

      Reply
  5. Rohini

    Beautifully nostalgic! That was so true even in India where I grew up. Some, hairy scary stories there! But the sun and the street lamps were our guide. And somehow we survived. That Norman Rockwell painting is the perfect visual for this delightful poem. Thank you, Elise Power.

    Reply
    • elise power

      Rohini,
      Thanks for your kind comment. Yes, this is something that is happening all over the world. I love Norman Rockwell and it goes well with the poem. They choose the artwork but I like what they picked. Peace,
      Elise

      Reply
  6. Michael Pietrack

    I just drank nostalgia straight from the garden hose until the street lights came on.

    Reply
  7. Yael

    Great poem which is very relatable and brings back memories, thank you! I was one of those children who ranged very far through forests, fields and glades, on foot and on horseback. I feel terribly sorry for all the children who don’t get to do this. I don’t know how they experience true freedom and learn responsibility. Perhaps there are other ways to learn these things, although the level of mental illness being treated in young people these days causes me to doubt it.

    Reply
  8. Margaret Coats

    Beautifully written praise of the sense of adventure in children, not neglecting practical common sense most of them possess naturally. It does, however, take a judicious adult to appreciate and express this as well as you do here, Elise.

    Reply

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