Reminiscing about summers

Spent at playgroups

And chasing down the ice-cream van

For a 99p flake

Going to the swimming bath

(Preferably the one with the wave machine

And slide)

Going fishing for sticklebacks

You always put back in the river

All the while knowing that the day

Your mum says we’re going to buy

School uniforms and shoes

Is the reminder the autumn term begins next week

Knowing that the early mornings

And the nights are still very bright

But for some reason from

The 6th of September the mornings

And afternoons are always so dark

And cold unlike just a day before

Mimicking how you feel to be going up a year.

It’s always the week before school starts

That you have to start going to bed at your

School night rota times

To get you back in the habit

Catching up with classmates

About your summer adventures

Trying to figure

Who your new form teacher is this year

Wondering what topics lie ahead

And visiting secondary schools

So you get the chance to see which schools

You’d like to go to

Only for your parents to ruin it by

Visiting the schools during open days

Confirming your worst nightmares about

Being separated from friends who literally live a few doors down

Thinking to yourself that this is -

And I quote -

THIS IS THE END IF THE WORLD!

But that time comes

And you make new friends

Introducing them to your old ones.

Then comes options year

Picking the other subjects you’ll sit for exams

Besides your fixed core subjects

(English, Maths and - depending on your school - either two of the sciences or combined science)

Mock exams

Exams proper

Then GCSE’s

Thinking on whether to go sixth form, college or get a job.

Thinking, if indeed you do sit your A Levels

Should I go to university or stop here.

These were the most “difficult” choices we had

But as I now reminisce,

I realise with mirth,

That those times were easy.

Reminiscing makes me want to do it all again

Just with more appreciation for what lies ahead