As I swing higher and higher I want to fly
If I jump now maybe I’ll land in the sky
On a puffy cloud where I can float away
I’m brought back to earth by a familiar “hey!”
It’s my mom calling me to come inside
Before I go I take a quick slip down the slide
She and daddy are headed to the bar
“Watch your brothers” she says as they get into the car
I’m eight years old and I’m in charge
The boys are two, three and five and they call me “Sarge”
I’m make them finish their fish sticks and fries
Then we watch TV and close our eyes
The next day it’s pretty much the same
I’m reading in the shade when Mom calls my name
“Get in here now” she yells “before I get mad”
Out the door they go, she and my dad
The boys and I eat boxed mac n’ cheese
The little one on a chair on his knees
We hear the ice cream truck from afar
I run to my room to my money jar
The jar is broken and the contents are gone
There will be no ice cream for the little ones
I tell them a story to distract them a bit
But the baby sees the truck and throws a fit
There is no vacation or summer camp for us
Unless you count two weeks in a VW bus
Driving to my grandparents house far away
Camping out in parking lots along the way
I don’t know these people, haven’t seen them in years
“It will be fun” Daddy says, chugs another beer
We arrive to hugs and kisses and toys galore
Clean beds and baths and so much more
Grandmother makes me clothes and shows me how
The boys fish with grandpa and learn to plow
There is an endless supply of food, love and hugs
and their house, it has no bugs
One evening Daddy says “tomorrow we leave”
I beg him to let us stay longer “Oh please, Oh please!”
But Mommy has already started packing our trunk
and says “We won’t have room for all of this junk”
We left the next day after a tearful good bye
I tried to explain it to the boys, though I didn’t understand why
The lovely things that they’d bought us had to stay behind
Our grandparents had been so loving and so kind
We arrived back home, I was tired and so sad
School would start soon, maybe this year wouldn’t be bad
Not having the right clothes, I was bullied and teased
Grandmothers outfits helped put me at ease
As soon as school started and we’d begun to make friends
Daddy got orders and it was time to move once again
A new naval base – they are all the same I think
Mommy and Daddy would find a new place to drink