Attie, A. (April 2003). Side by SideEducational Insights, 8(1). [Available: http://ccfi.educ.ubc.ca/publication/insights/v08n01/music/attie/]

Side by Side

Ariana Attie
Los Angeles, USA

I didn’t grow up poor
like the boy and girl next door
Our house was old and tattered
but our dreams had not been shattered
My daddy hauled machinery
from McCormick’s back in town
Her dad couldn’t keep a job,
their mom was not around
Sometimes on moonlit nights
I watched with sleepy eyes
my folks would sneak next door
and leave a package on their porch
a bag of food
a five or ten
when everyone was sleeping
Then hand in hand they smiled
and held the secret they were keeping
And side by side together in life
we stand by each other
and help one another
those ties that bind remind me
that I’m still longing for the days
when we were living side by side.

We used to like to play after school each day
We laughed at hide and seek
and played doctor by the creek
And when my Mom would bake a cake
we all would crowd in the room
And each of us would take a turn
licking icing off the spoon
And side by side together in life
we stand by each other
And help one another
those ties that bind remind me
that I’m still longing for the days
when we were living side by side.

One Sunday morning after church
we came home to find
Our broken fence was mended,
our crooked shutters back in line
A necklace strung with berries
was hanging on the door
and "thank you" in wild flowers
was spelled out on the floor
We were side by side together in life
we stand by each other
And help one another
those ties that bind remind me
that I’m still longing for the days
when we were living side by side.
I’m longing for the days
when we were living side by side.

© Ariana Attie used by permission