When Wildflowers
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Fireworks and flags

and the Fourth of July

a boy of four,

and one small town parade.

It was the kind of local celebration

that everyone was part of...

the high school band, the ladies clubs,

and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Anyone who wished to,

with a patriotic costume,

could be part of the parade.

So we helped him make

a cardboard horse,

and he dressed as Paul Revere.

I see him still, so serious and small,

marching straight and proud.

Others may prefer

much more professional parades,

but I like best

those small town celebrations...

with local bands and ladies clubs,

and little boys of courage,

dressed up like Paul Revere.

Rae Turnbull

We never used the front door
when we visited Aunt Jean's.
She had one, I remember,
but everyone...neighbor children,
relatives and friends,
and even the family dog...
went in and out her kitchen door.

She preferred it that way,
and so did we.
There was a nice familiarity
in the sound of her screen door.
Perhaps because we knew,
somewhere inside,
her warm welcome waited.

She's gone now, from her kitchen.
But I know she'd have been pleased,
that when we talk about her,
each of us remembers
we never used the front door
when we visited Aunt Jean's.

Rae Turnbull