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Came upon this while walking through an abandoned theme park in the Adirondacks one October day. The park, in the village of North Hudson, was once known as Frontier Town. Today, it has been converted to a campground. I don’t know if this structure still remains.
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When We Were Young
We weathered every storm,
never stopping to consider how or why,
took what we were given,
and knew not to ask for more,
did what we were told, sometimes grudgingly,
believed each and every lie,
couldn’t wait to be free.
But then one day we became our parents,
one day we became the lie,
repeating over and over an old programmed routine,
never trusting we could fly,
never once imagining a day might come
when the only thing we’d wish for was a time machine.
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Homage
One spring day I stood alone
on a school playground
twisting blades of grass
in my child-sized fingers.
Then suddenly, a hot jolt of pain.
Yellowjacket strike!
Soon my finger swelled to twice its size.
Then it was my eye.
Later, I overheard someone say
“You know, he could’ve died!”
But I was rushed to the hospital
in that old green truck
driven by the red-faced teacher nobody liked,
but who’d somehow taken a liking
to the shy kid slouched behind a desk
near the back
who’d not once raised his hand in class.
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Nightfall
Darkness drops again,
a black cloak descending
upon the last embers of twilight
as we make our way home
through the burgeoning shadows
about to consume the world.
And before our feet
find the porch steps,
nightfall swallows us all
like a ravenous beast.
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Regarding Grandpa
Grandpa claimed to be a time traveler
in the first paragraph of the last book
he ever wrote.
Stashed away, the unpolished manuscript
(like previous others)
clearly wasn’t intended to be a work of fiction.
Later, we snuck into his abandoned study
once more in search of clues
to corroborate his claim.
All we found of interest was a rusty pocket watch and a rather peculiar pair of shoes.
One night we summoned the courage
to show the thick ream of pages to Dad.
He grinned down at us
conspiratorially at first.
Upon reading further, however,
his eyes grew wide and serious
as if he’d just remembered something.
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Mark Alden 