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.FOR A HUNDRED YEARS---THEY'VE SEEN, HEARD, AND FELT IT....ALL
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It's silly
You say
For a guy
To write a poem
About bricks
Paving a street
Red bricks, at that.
My answer,
I can see your point,
But it's plain you didn't
Grow up in my great
Hometown, in Clovis
Where those bricks
Were a part of
Life...for everyone.
They must've been
Laid down, probably
On packed dirt
Before 1920, I would guess.
Who knows or remembers?
Wonder who made them...
They must've been
Guaranteed for life!
What kind of sand,
From where?
What made them red?
They were baked
Good and proper,
Once, and for all...
None of this 400 degrees
and insert a toothpick
stuff!
Well, we know,
That Coronado
Didn't lay them!
Those bricks have lain there
Patiently
Thru' WWI, the Roaring Twenties,
The Dust Bowl, the Great Depression,
WWII, and ever since....
They have been trodden upon
By celebrities, movie stars.
Political figures. settlers.
Farmers, and cowboys.
Soldiers marched down Main
Over the red bricks,
Early in WWII.
"Pioneer Days" saw the
Mounted Patrol and cowboys,
On their horses, clop-clopping
On the bricks
Along Main Street.
The bricks were good...
Reverberators!
I can hear them, now!
Parade-time also saw the
Shriners Marching Band,
Scooting along,
Playing their instruments.
If the bricks weren't anchored
Good at first, they were
By the time countless
Wildcat High School bands
Came along with their
High-stepping majoretttes!
They were there in the
Summer...in the winter,
In dry times, and in wet;
And in rainy times
when every citizen knew:
Main Street is not the
Place to be...when it rains!
But our bricks
got a good bath,
Then. A good one!
They have been the "dragees"
For every generation
Of CHS kids, since
"Time immemorial"---
As they did the eight blocks,
U-Turned and did it again,
Ad infinitum!
"Let's drag Main!"
These are bricks
That have seen and
Heard it all...
They heard Grady Maples
And R.B. McAlister, hanging
Out Woolworth's second story
Window, bantering with businessmen:
"Hey, Mr.Duckworth!"
"Good morning Jack, any new suits
In yet?"
"Ralph, get a move on there!"
The bricks heard my uncle's
Gospel Quartet, singing there
On the sidewalk, in front of
Fox Drug, 1939, a piano
Rolled out, and on KICA RADIO.
The bricks heard of the
Jap surrender, that afternoon,
in August, 1945
When a KICA van announced it
From the middle of 4th and Main,
There by Barry Hardware.
And one cold January night...
(Why can we remember one
night out of many?)
Along about 1951
Levi and I were headed to
The Lyceum, our favorite theater...
We parked, old-fashion style
In front of Anthony's.
Walked, that bitingly cold, nippy
Night...across those cold red bricks
To the Lyceum, to a movie.
(No, I don't remember what movie.)
To this day, I can remember
that night, and almost feel those
cold bricks,
Thru' my shoes!
Those bricks were worn and rounded off
Even then, over sixty years ago...
When you remember them,
You marvel...
CLOVIS....and its red bricks
On Main Street...
If you ever lived there,
They're a part
Of your heart.
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BY MIL
10/04/13
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