A Peek into the Past

Passing trees with gauzy nests
Of caterpillars hanging down
Jars a memory that rests
Within the folds of brain cell town.

My dad and all the neighbor men,
With flaming torches, did attack
Those selfsame sacs so ne’er again
Would gypsy moths be coming back.

We children gathered ‘round to gape
As fiery clumps fell from the trees,
A happening which helped to shape
A reminiscence there to seize.

The dads, the dusk, the shadows cast,
The neighborhood community
Unlocks a peek into the past
To visit with impunity.