Circa 1956

When the world was small
my heroes were big
living on a 12’’ screen
the telephone operator knew me by name
when the party line was open and free
on Tuesdays it was the bread man
on Wednesdays came meat
Friday mornings the Fuller Brush man rang twice
Saturdays were baseball, bleacher seats for a buck
and on Sunday to church on my bike
when on Monday the Nun asked where the black eye was from
I smiled and said “ran into a door”
while all the while knowing this was the time of my life
—a time when the world was so small

(Conshohocken Pennsylvania: March, 2021)