The Forgotten "PARK"

I was feeling kinda lonely
and decided to go for a walk
no place in perticular
It was a kinda dreary day
every now and then the sun
would peek out from behind
the overcast cloudy sky
and give a little relief
from the chilly breeze
that was blowing from the north
I was just approaching
the entrance to the park
when i heard this strange noise
There were two tall silver maple
trees
standing on either side of
the park entrance
The noise seemed to be coming
from the tree on my right
It was a kind of moaning sound
OOOooooooo, real werid
both trees were shaking
limbs flopping up and down
then all of a sudden
the tree on my right
stopped shaking
and the moaning sound
was coming from the tree on my left
suddenly the moning sound stopped
then from the trees on both sides
came this horiffic laughing sound
getting louder and louder
and then just stopped
I just stood there for a few seconds
then I realized that there was no sound
just a defening silence
A cold chill began to run up and down
my spine
my knees began to shake
i just could not stop them
from shaking
my whole body seemed to
be falling apart
There were benches
on either side of the
enterance to the park
i made my way to the
one on my right and sit down
i could still hear the echo
of that shrill moaning and
that horiffic laughing
inside of my head
after several minutes
i heard a shuffling noise
as an eldery woman walked by
and entered the park
then a boy and girl came
running toward the
park entrance
the boy yelled i will
race you to the park fountain
and they both vanished into the park
then i heard a couple birds
chirping up in the trees
after shaking my head
a couple times i began to wonder
if i was imagine the whole thing
i looked up and down the streets
every thing seemed normal
the trees were hardly moving
in the gentle breeze that was
now blowing through the trees
i started moving slowly
toward the entrance to the park
as i stood in front
of the entrance to the park
my mind began to travel
back through the pages of time
soon i found myself in front of
a beautiful inviting park
tall silver maple trees
decorated either side of
the entrance to the park
a beautiful shiny brick walkway
lined with tall slinder
silver maples as far as
the eye could see
the beautiful blue green grass
that covered the ground
of the entire park
you could just feel the
inviting words of the sign
that hung over the entrence
to the park
"WELCOME TO HI.LO."PARK"
I could hear the stringed
music eminating from somewhere
inside the park
i could hear children running
and playing
as i walked along the shinny brick path
to my right i could see a couple
laying on a blanket
listening to their radio
to my left there were seveal
picnic tables where families
were enjoying a cook out
i could smell the aroma
from grilled hotdogs,hamburgers
and steaks
soon i came to the large fountain
that was near the center of the park
a beautiful multi colored
spout of water shooting
ten to fiften feet in the air
then falling back like a hugh
tricolored umbrella
a three foot brick wall surrounded
the beautiful fountain
the bottom coverewd with
fifteen or twenty inches
of sparkling water
lining the bottom was
several hundred assorted coin
that glittered through the water
as i stood there amazed
at this extryordinary
work of art
watching as men and women
boys and girls
stopping to admire this the
most beautiful spot in the park
i noticed just what a pleasure
they seemed to get out of
throwing coins in the fountain
some making wishes as they
tossed the coins in
and feeling sure their wish
would come true
as they moved on others
would take their place
as i moved slowly along
the shinny brick path
still mesmerized by the
beauty of the tall sparkling
silver maples
and if you looked beyond
the silver maple trees
there were also some beautiful
tall green pine trees
also a couple of weeping willows
throughout the park you could
see different areas of recreation
for both children and adults
swings monkeybars,slides and
sandboxes and more
for young people and adults
there were tennis courts
basket ball courts badmitten
and other types of receration
places for all ages
all full of happy people having
a good time and just enjoying
this beautiful landmark park
as i stood there gazing
over this beautiful park
it was like looking at a picture
painted by a famous artist
then my mind began to wonder back
before this park even existed
this was just a little
quiet community
with a population of only
about 300 people
a combination hardware and
grocery store and just about
anything else you needed
an oldtime drugstore with a
soda fountain
a one room school house
and a community church
there were mostly farmers
and mine workers
there was a small steel works
that employed ten or fifteen
people
mostly family members
it was just a small community
with happy friendly people
and then one day the news
that was heard around the world
the japanese had bombed
pearl harbor
then one day a big steel producer
from the east came and bought
the little family steel works
with in a week word was out
that there was need for a
thousand or more workers
the little steel works
had been converted into a large
steel mill
new coal mines were being opened
pre fabricated houses began to pop up
all around the area
people were coming from everywhere
all of a sudden it was a booming town
new stores opened up
saloons movie theatre
a large school was built.
children were ebverywhere
with no place to play
but in the streets
with the help of the steel mill
owners
and the generous donations of
the steel workers and the miners
the beautiful park came to be
the beautiful landmark it is today
as i looked around me with some pride
because i was the one who made the
sugestion of building a park
for the children
a sugestion that soon became
a community thing
as the donations came in
soon it became a family park
then a community recreation
center as it is today
as i was walking again along
the shinny brick pathway
that would take me back
to the entrance of the park
i had to turn and look back
my chest kinda swelled up
realizing that i had a part
in bringing this beautiful
landmark into reality
as i turned and walked
through the park entrance
just as i stepped outside
the park
my eyes opened
I was still sitting on
the old broken down bench
outside the park
thats when i realized that
it was all a dream
as i looked up the only
thing lwft that resembled the
once beautiful park
is the two tall silver maples
that once decorated the entrance
of what was once a beautiful
landmark
again my mind wondered back
to that day when the news
came over the radio
an atomic bomb was dropped
on hiroshema
soon word came the war
was over
hundreds of thousand of our
boys and girls would be
coming home
and the world and our
community would change again
word soon came that the
steel mill would be closing down
about half of the mines
would soon close
workers that had come
from all parts of the country
to our little community
were packing up to return
to their original homes
prefrabricated homes were
just left standing
the few who remained
soon ran out of money
and moved on to where
there was work
twenty years have passed now
and only three famlies are left
the remaining mines have
now closed down
and the town of "HI.LO."
is now a ghost town
the park is in ruins
the once beautiful fountain
is now an eye sore rusted
and falling apart
grass, weeds and bushes
three and four feet high
many of the beautiful trees
have fallen
the once shinny brick
pathway has coroded
rain has washed many
of the bricks up
and crab grass now cover
the once beautiful pathway
I remembered how a once
quiet friendly community
became a thriving town
called "HI-LO" with a
population close 50000 people
and now twenty years later
nothing but a ghost town
i turned once again to look
at the tall silver maple trees
still standing
and i heard once again that
moaning sound OOOooooooo
now coming from both trees
i just stood there for a few sseconds
a thought came to me could it be
could it just be possible those trees
are morning over the once beautiful park
where they greeted the many visitors
as they entered the park
" could it be true
as i turned i felt a cold tear
slide down my cheeks
so i just walked away

[oh i guess you might be wondering just who i am]
  ( I am the original caretaker of this once beautiful park)