[ CC ] Charity's Child

The essence of Brooks' "A Song in the Front Yard" is one I can truly relate to because I was raised in a fishbowl.  I used to love to watch the children out playing after the streetlights came on ( which was our alarm clock to come inside ). And our bedtime in the summer was the same regardless of the light outside, and the laughter of neighbors playing used to depress me so much.  I know exactly how she feels, wanting out of a cage of "upright raise'n".

In this you've taken it beyond her younger years into her older; looks like she was granted her wish and now contributes to the family income. Albeit nefariously, I imagine, being she won't reveal what she does. . . more than likely entails stockings and paint on her face.

Nicely done!

Thank you! 📝❤

Your fish bowl was my crop circle as I lived out in the middle of nowhere! I had to bicycle 8 miles just to feel like a part of a community and experience socialization with peers.  

What I tried to do here was put myself into the shoes of one of the poor kids she referred to as Charity Children. I swear I read through dozens of poems and struck out until found this at Genius.com. Brooks is a very versatile and polished writer that I struggle to get into the mindset of. Being poor was something I could relate to.  

You're welcome. You know, when we were dirt-poor, I never realized it because I was happy. Strange how things work like that.

It's amazing how rewarding a minimalist lifestyle with a healthy measure of privacy is. It really doesn't take much to be very happy. It's a state of mind more than anything.

Tis a bitch to "happy"  when one's body betrays you on a bigtime scale. And when in the midst of this betrayal, your child dies, hoo'wee, baby. Happy is no longer an option, & one's "world" becomes so grim with  grief, that one is "beside one's self" & no anti-depressant , or therapy is strong enough that all the "diversions" that we counted on to bolster one's need for happy, becomes so fckng irrelevant. But that's "just me".  If one can keep maintanence  for happy, god bless ye. Tis hard to be happy when it seems like everything caves in just in time for the Golden Years.

Danny, nI think it goes without saying that the big beautiful front yard you have to look forward to is the end of feeling physically broken down and being with Leah again. And there is no harm in imagining in both things happening and if that makes you feel better inside, then you are at least a step closer towards feeling what your life use to be like or happy or both. Would doing such be tempting the Powers That Be to expedite you out of this world --- a sort of consent given in the conscious act to give up? Perhaps. But if you feel like you would evaporate into nothingness upon exiting this universe, well .... at least that too would be one step closer away from feeling miserable. I don't think you have anything to lose and plenty to gain by excusing yourself from the moment. Dementia patients do it all the time --- they just can't control what time period they end up in. You can. Let's have a big ole block party in a beautiful front yard, get stuffed on barbecue and listen to a live jazz band. I have two lawn chairs reserved for you and Leah right next to the beer cooler.

Thankyou.......i dunno what to say. i'm rather choked-up, as they say. But for one "reason" or another it happens most every day. Usually Leah or the Reality that I likely won't live long enough to be with my grand daughter & my son.  

Bless you both.

I can't but feel as if being transported to a different time and place, understanding struggles when you deliver these lines in such a unique style.  Can't wait until I delve into this with more depth, I may just come back over and over again to appreciate it thoroughly.
Wonderful write JB.

Bless you, Wally. I feel a bit undeserving as of late as I've had the nose to the grindstone editing / revising my *entire* portfolio and haven't really come up for air to read others.