When
he was six he was deemed
old
enough to ride his bicycle
(red)
the mile and a half
to
the dime store, a place
of
magic with rows of toys
and
candy and those racks
of
59 cent books, Trixie Belden
and
the Secret of the Mansion,
Black
Beauty, the Bobbsey Twins,
Kidnapped
and Robinson Crusoe.
The
library was too far and across
the
highway so he learned to buy
instead
of borrow.
This
is another in a series of poems about growing up in the South, suggested by Nancy Rosback. The dime store
in question was called TG&Y.
Photograph: Oklahoma
Historical Society.
