Levi's and Hot-Wheels (by R. Phillips) I remember innocent days when the worst offense was saying a dirty word, and three or four swats with the orange plastic Hot-Wheels track was the harshest bridle of behavior. When Levi's were standard issue before Guess and Girbaud adulterated the market with sensual ads in GQ and Esquire magazines transforming ordinary denim into icons of better living. Those were the days I careened my Huffy dirt bike, with its black and yellow bee's jacket, through the obstacle course of mud and tires behind my parents' tinny white and green mobile home nestled in a small northern Michigan town. Days I felt invincible enough to line up 52 beer cans side by side like a tin army marching midway down the graveled drive With two cement blocks riding piggy-back and that weathered pink board for a ramp Crushing sand and stones, I'd pedal hard towards the make-shift jump I was a jet amassing enough velocity to break gravity's hold Enough to break my neck should I have failed. Times I paid sparse attention to my older sister's friends Before I distinguished between my walk and their walk Before I discovered that a kiss is more than merely touching lips. When a siren's shrill scream meant an accident, not a crime. When the worst crime was committed by kids snagging Penthouse on their way out of Holiday gas stations without the attendants ever the wiser. Those were the days when coke meant soda and grass was something Dad mowed every Sunday afternoon. Before crack and ice weren't something in your sidewalk or drink When only Burg's or LeFave's Pharmacy sold drugs. Days I could swim off the shores of Lake Huron kicking and splashing and dunking diving into the foamy crests that caught me off-balance and waves I thought were caused by hidden alligators wagging there tails without the worry of toxins corroding my skin. When draping a cape over my back gave super powers and my brother became the wall-climbing hero with the house as our city to defend. Days when I could get a hug from Mom for just being me or wrestle Dad on the living room floor for no reason at all. When naivity and ignorance ruled my world Where freedom was like a rippling kite riding high on the winds of choice and string was the authority keeping that freedom within bounds.Birth sign: Not entered
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