Clancy’s was
a bonafide drug store
from another age,
serving the neighborhood
with pharmacy,
periodicals,
and malts and salty fries.
Chrome ringed swivel stools
bolted to the floor
lined the diner counter,
and aisles of candy,
beauty,
and household essentials
were stocked
for quick pick-up
on errands.
But the remarkable feature
was beneath our feet:
a Real Deal
Top Dog
Toy Store.
Dazzling and accessible,
the basement
was a treasure trove
for kids to peruse,
to touch and to test,
splendidly stacked
with amusement.
After many thoughtful minutes
picking a prize
we’d ascend with our whatnot
or Matchbox or gum,
friendly selections
for fifty cent pockets,
and make our way home
the few blocks,
ever confident
that quarters were endless
and Clancy’s was always.

For You are my hope; O Lord GOD, You are my confidence from my youth. Psalms 71:5

image: Clancy’s Drug Store & Toy Land, a bit before my time…

If we are to lose any thing
let it be severed in summer
when the fall will arrive
with bright breeze
and multicolored maples
to turn our heads
and relieve our grief.
Let football distract
and harvest restore
and mums mend the memory
sweet again.

Restore our fortunes, LORD, like streams in the Negev. Psalm 126:4

“I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Genesis 28:15

image: Fall Gray Day on Maliview by Justin Beckett

An inch too short
a pound too heavy
is surely wind and breath
yet futile thought
returns to me
as soon as guard relents
vain and useless
speculation
dulls my morning new
and barmy doubt
dilutes the truth
I too have come from You
my child chops
her long hair gone
without a woe or care
the practical
of play and knots
enough to sway her there
she beams
at her reflection
with favor on her face
so sure as sure
and just like that
I’m beckoned back to grace.

Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways. Psalm 119:37

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:14

image: Ashes In The Wind by Donna Blackhall