Tower Of Babel

“Seesaw Margery Daw
Johnny shall have a new master…”

The little girl throws her head back, thrilling at the breeze blowing through the tendrils of her hair. Her thin, brown legs pump strongly back and forth, pushing the swing into the air. As she closes her eyes against the brilliantness of the sun, she images herself flying.

She loves the swing set in her back yard. It has been in her family for many years. Her older brothers and sisters have used this very same swing many times. It is rusty and it creaks loudly as she sends it to its limit with the pulsing of her legs. The creaking seems to her to be a kind of singing, telling stories of its history, including tales of her sisters and brothers. Its creaking seems to be in tune to the nursery rhyme the little girl sings. “Seesaw Margery Daw…”

It is placed in the middle of the yard, a place of honour almost. It has been the centre of many sessions of roughhousing and hide and seek. The older boys hung off the swing during games of cowboys and Indians, falling from the upper bar when “shot” numerous times. Many secrets have been quietly shared by the girls and their friends around the swing set.

From behind her closed eyelids she sees the different shades of orange and yellow from the sunshine. She can almost feel her “wings” flapping as she flies through the air. She marvels at the feeling of floating smoothly through the air. Her squeals of excitement fill the air in the back yard.

Suddenly, she hears a car door slam and she slows her flight. Her father is home with her brothers and sisters. She jumps from the swing mid air and rushes to meet her family. The noise is now focused inside the house, where the girl and her family share their days’ events.

The swing continues its erratic arcs through the air, slowing until it twirls gently side to side before completely stopping. There is a hushed yet expectant silence surrounding the backyard. There will be time for ore swinging again later.

“Seesaw Margery Daw
Johnny shall have a new master….”

Ciya
July 29, 2005

This entry was posted on Friday, July 29th, 2005 at 11:18 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.