Down by the Schoolyard

by Richard Diem

Richard at the PS 150 schoolyard

Photo by grandson Karl on 9/2/2021

Looking at his yesteryears through eyes of boyhood dreams

Visions dance with memories while golden sunlight gleams

Casting light upon the stage of the long ago he knew

The visions now before him bring his boyhood into view

Remembering the joy in the games he used to play

Thinking of the girls and boys, the fun they had each day

At Public School One Fifty in Sunnyside, in Queens

Looking at those bygone years through eyes of boyhood dreams

Play Ball at PS 150: the little garden in left field

When the softball or punch ball game was set to begin, I was quick to volunteer to be the left fielder, and surely without knowing it at the time, I was getting a life lesson about making decisions of which there would be many to come in my future.

You see, left field had a fun objective for the good hitters as it had a garden and a goal to strive for from home plate: to hit the ball over the fence and into the garden. But the fun for me was to be the outfielder and position myself at the gate entrance, waiting…waiting for that long drive to left field. And then, depending on which way I saw the ball going, the decision-making. Would it go over into the garden or stray somewhere else? Which way do I run to catch it? Whichever way it went, the game played on.

Today as often happens, the garden is no longer there, but this happy little memory of my play ball time at the PS 150 schoolyard lingers.