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Friday, July 15, 2011

ROSEBUD SYNDROME


Somebody might say I have too much time on my hands,

searching E-Bay for more than three hours one evening.

I found a rodeo belt buckle like the one my Dad won in Vegas.

I found Bukowski’s typewriter, (same model) a 30’s Underwood.

I even placed a bid on a purple Tonka jeep like the one I got on

a Saturday morning in the living room with the divorce lawyers.


I found a 1972 Gunsmoke lunchbox with a thermos, like mine.

I took it to kindergarten at Cherry Street School. I bid $85, hoping

I would not get it since my wife would consider it a waste of money.

Of course it went a lot higher, not as much as the Scooby Doo one

I’d begged my mother for as a replacement. I knew not to bother.


I found my Evel Knievel doll, Action Jackson, my Joe Namath figure,

and Captain Maddox, an eleven inch figure complete with three

different hats, canteen, branding iron, weapons, a little coffee pot.

I was tempted to bid on them all, the toys I spent so much time with

all alone as a child. I wanted Star Wars cards, a Viewmaster, a prop

from Sanford & Son, Olivia Walton’s blue tea kettle, a set of glasses

used by the Brady Bunch. I’ve got a MasterCard and a Pay Pal too!


I thought of the joy each of these would bring as I remembered

my past, realizing it really wasn’t such a rotten childhood after all.

But being conservative and sensible, I bought post cards instead.

Places I loved as a boy and I thought of how I’d buy some frames

to hang them above my desk, knowing one day I’d get my lunchbox.

2 comments:

Glynn said...

For some of us of a certain age, it was a Howdy Doody jack-in-the-box. Good poem, sir.

Anonymous said...

Ebay makes nostalgia such a voyeuristic adventure.
I like the transition in the last stanza, the realization that buying these physical items won't bring back your childhood.