The Right Light
Sometimes, when the light is just right, the old schoolyard out back of the house looks exactly like a faded snapshot. That is, an image that evokes a time of soccer-ball-against-the-fence innocence. It’s a feeling that pops in to visit occasionally. It brushes by, stays for a moment and then leaves before you recognize it. The light is great tonight and out back the kids are yelling and kicking a ball around. They sound so very free. A few older kids wander into the scene but leave the younguns alone. A yellow dog bolts across the field and chases one of the young boys. Someone comes screaming around the corner on a bike and crashes into the ground. No cries are heard — just laughter. I sit and admire this simple scene. The evening colors are shifting and the touches of gray are fading into tomorrow. The rains may rear their heads again, but not tonight says the weatherman. His cognizance isn’t the best these days anyways. Not tonight say the teenagers smoking on the swingset. Not tonight says the boy with the bloody knee and the folded bike. Not tonight say the kids playing soccer over there, their ball hitting the chain link and sounding like a bell. Not tonight says I, letting the kids bring it all back to me.