An Adventure

I remember those fall days, the days when as a ten year old boy
I would walk to the Standiford Field airport
A time when there was no security check,
and I could walk to every gate, freely
A time when there were rows of pay phones,
where I could always find change left behind,
A time when soldiers left magazines,
and comic books on the seats, to board their flights
I could spend an entire day, an adventure,
looking for treasure, and always be rewarded
Sometimes the magazines were not meant for young eyes,
and those comic books were left by young soldier boys,
Soldiers from Fort Knox, dressed in khakis,
anxious to get home to see their loved ones,
Soldiers, not much older than me,
Nothing more than boys themselves, pimple faced kids,
who left comics behind, so as to appear more mature to loved ones And for ten cents, I could go up on the airport roof,
and from the deck, watch airplanes land, and take off
I could watch passengers, both arriving,
and boarding planes, walking across the tarmac
I would imagine where they were going or coming from,
places I never dreamed I would go, far away
It was a time when I rarely left Louisville,
and never outside the State of Kentucky
I could sit in the chairs in every terminal,
so few terminals in those days, and so accessible
At times, I would imagine I was a soldier, anxious to see my family,
or maybe a wealthy passenger,
Flying to Cuba, or Florida, to the beach,
or to Washington, D.C. to visit my aunt and uncle
Then afterward, I’d walk home, carrying my treasure,
40 or 50 cents, and a few comic books
When I finally got home, supper would be ready, and I would eat, then read my new comics
Mom would ask where I had been all day,
While dad sat on the sofa and read the Times
The Louisville Times was our evening paper,
the Courier Journal came in the morning
It was a time when we actually wanted more news,
and I would read the funny paper from each one,
Then I'd tell my mother I had been to a friends house all day
She would never approve of my going to the airport by myself,
no no, that was much too dangerous for a ten year old