Long day frolic summer was
Out of school children joys awash
High cliffs diving and swimming
Cool waters of rivers and streams
Boys bathed in sweats panting
Shooting balls into metal rings
Nailed on a kapok tree
That grew up and up every year
Making toy guns of bamboo twigs
Firing berries and papaya cubes
And paper bullets with fingers mold
Playing soldiers in the neighborhood
Curving tops of guava branches
Enjoying the spinning contests
Making toy cars of tin cans and boards
To drive around by pulling cords
But children’s fun can go overboard
When boys bored and bold
Engaged in mock wars with slingshots
Deaf to parents’ warning of getting hurt
Summer was circumcisions done
By the village old quack under the sun
With iron blades and guava leaves
The boys trembling not out of fear
But long immersion in the river cold
At times anesthesia was still untold
Coming out healed and initiated
Ready for the school days ahead
Summer was for everybody’s fun
And girls won’t like to be outdone
Fashioning dolls of corn cubs and hush
In makeshift abodes playing house
Girls joined boys in hide and seek
In the bushes and coconut grooves
On fair days and nights
The moon casting shadows of their flights
Long day frolic summer was
Out of school children joys awash
Catching dragonflies and butterflies
At night a glass of fireflies.
