Pennsylvania’s Beauty

I remember parades in the morning, 

the black and yellow Fords all lined up, 

a big old hearse and fire trucks at the end.

The Point Park County-Fairs of summer; 

and all the good times that we had.

Catching trout, and catfish - a bass now 

and then – all good eating. 

The cheesesteaks and the pretzels, 

the tomatoes and the corn, the funnel-cake 

and birch beer, the pirogies and potatoes. 

The red covered bridges, and 

stopping in the middle just to blow the horn. 

The snow and the mountains, the creeks 

and the streams, the rivers and lakes, the 

forests and the greens, the highways and the trails.

Deep snows back in the day, walking 

to school with the drifts up to our waist 

just like a flood. 

The many colors of autumn; all the pretty 

leaves.  The reds, the golds, the russets 

and the yellows in the breeze.

The pumpkins and the honeydew, the corn 

on the cob, the scrapple and the cantaloupe, 

the ring baloney and the beer, the chocolate 

of Hersheys, the potlucks and potato chips.

The pea-coal in the stove, up from the 

cellar.  Two buckets full kept us warm 

all day and all night.

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Written by The 12 Premier Poets, residents of 

Premier at Perry Village, New Bloomfield, 

Perry County, Pennsylvania - written in round-robin 

fashion (one resident adds a line or two as we go 

around the group).