Jimmy

....one hot summer day

Jimmy

 

 

It was one of those summer days, lazy with heat, heavy with anticipation and youthful playfulness. Grandmom tended her roses and kept an eye out for anyone who had stories to share, work, family, the old country, it didn’t matter, it was the fellowship that counted and marked her days; made the roses bloom in colors and the thorns easier to take. As for me and my friends, it was bottle and paper collection days with penny candy as reward; eaten in the back alley beyond parent’s “you’ll spoil your supper eyes”.

 

We were wild, untamed and just looking for fun. Mike, Vincent, Jimmy and me; you could call us the Lombard Street gang, but we had no idea what that meant, we was just friends enjoying our summer freedom.

 

It was just one of those endless summer days, lazy with heat and a game of tag when Jimmy ran head first into the street. The car never saw him. And Jimmy never woke up.

 

It was just one of those lazy summer days heavy with Jimmy’s laughter.

 

Aztec Warrior/redzone 10.1.21

Author's Note

....thanks for reading. Jimmy was real, and this happened back in 1957...

Reviews

[Lisasview]

This story of yours (and I do believe it is a story and not a poem) gave me goose bumps... Such a tragedy... for everyone.. even the person driving the car... Something like this never leaves your side.
I did like the flow of your story...
Lisa, now in Spain
We must be around the same age..

[redzone]

thank you Lisa for your words and visit...

as a side note, poetry has many different forms, words organized in different ways.... some more structured while others not so much.... but there are many story poems.... Shakespeare, Homer, Milton, to name just a few poets wrote epic poems that could also be called 'stories'... much of Shakespeare's plays were done in sonnet form... anyway, the point is that I could have written this piece in a more poetic form but thought that the paragraph form was more dramatic, had more feeling to it....

anyway, I mention this not so much as a criticism or debate of you calling it a 'story', but as a way of showing how poems can be as diverse as life itself in form and structure...

so again your words are much appreciated and welcomed...

[Lydia Shutter]

OH MY, Curt....for you to have witnessed such a tragedy when you were just a child is unthinkable. Children having fun. Thinking they are invincible. Jimmy lives on in your mind and heart and I am sure what happened to him that day effected all of your "gang" throughout life. Such a powerful write. So much more than "nice", Lydi***

[redzone]

thanks you for your kind words Lydi....

actually this was the second tragedy of my young life... the other was my friend George.... I wrote and posted here at WC a story/poem about him a few years ago... (called Monster Slayer George if you are interested in reading)... I am always grateful for your "nice" reviews...

[Lydia Shutter]

I went through all your poetry on WC and can not find it!

[redzone]

I found it, it was posted in 2014 Lydi.... it you want to read it, I will email it to you...

[Lydia Shutter]

yes, please do Curt.

[S.zaynab.kamoonpury]

Aw it began so boyish fun , summery and playful but ended on a tragic note ah! Kudos for this memory poem, happy and mournful. !

Plz do read and comment my newest poem too

[barleygirl]

Sorry for this real-life experience in your young life. These things stick for years & you paint it vividly, like it happened yesterday (((HUGS)))

[Chris Shaw]

You never forget stuff like that from your younger years. It stays with you. A young life lost in such tragic circumstances. An ordinary summer day which started so well and ended in loss of life. Hard hitting piece.

Chris

[Ruth]

So very sad. Always sad when such innocence is cut short from life and much like the impact that would have been in reality, the poem actually shook at the end also - shakes the reader abruptly and rightly so - death in such circumstances is tragic...this poem echoes tragedy...powerful piece!

[Eilis]

The way you built into the memory with nostalgia and the innocence of childhood was so effective. I was immersed in that carefree life you described and did not see the unfortunate ending coming. In a way, your story, the way you told it, mirrored the experience because your readers, too, were caught off guard. Some things I think we grieve forever. Even if our minds only turn to them once a year or so. When the memory crops up, the rawness of the feeling can still surprise. I do have a few similar memories, was just thinking of one today as I dropped my daughter off for a camping weekend, so really related to this. Great storytelling.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

And here that was my favorite year, in Vermont...
but this is such a sad memory....we must look before we leap. And often I wonder how I escaped all those
near death misses in the past.
j.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

This reminds me of a time back in grade school about '75. One of my very first school friends named Stevie. Last day of class before summer break we wished each other a wonderful vacation time off. Those days felt like they would last forever. He died several weeks later when he was run over by a car. First day back after summer the teacher tells us what had happened. It didn't really sink in for a few weeks that I would never see my friend again. I'm in my mid 50s and still remember him. Thank you for sharing this poem about your friend Jimmy. It made me remember my best friend Stevie.

[John the Baptist]

Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first.