First and foremost in our thoughts,
Was OUR MARBLE TOURNAMENT;
Who would be our next champion,
And, who had made the greatest improvement.

Spring finally came…the snow was gone,
And, everyone began to practice;
Sister and I just stood and watched,
What they were doing…made us speechless.

Mounds of dirt and sand were piled-up,
And then…a hole made…in the middle;
This was called a ‘bunny hole’,
If it wasn’t done right…sometimes there was a squabble.

Then, the players would practice some more,
Practice their strategic moves;
Before long they had figured out,
Just what they had to do…to improve.

Now, OUR MARBLE TOURNAMENT…began,
It would continue for many days;
There were those who were timid,
And, those who bragged of their ways.

Well, sister and I were very poor,
We never played…we just watched;
For we had no marbles…you see,
So, that is why we could only watch.

One day…my sister had enough,
For she was brave...you see;
She asked to ‘borrow’ just one marble,
And, the rest is history!

That girl…she was tremendous,
She won game after game;
Before long…she had a pocketful,
Then, end of recess…end of game!

But, the next day…another recess,
And, my sister won nearly every game;
By now…the word had spread,
Our school has never been the same!

The next day…the tournament continued,
With my sister leading the pack;
She kept ‘shooting’ the marbles,
Now, there was no turning back!

Each night…she would bring home,
More and more marbles;
Each night her container was larger,
In fact…it had more than doubled!

Now, my sister carried a large shoebox,
And, those marbles made such a nice sound;
Like a giant…baby rattle…they were,
As they went `round and `round!

My sister…I was so proud of her,
She was OUR MARBLE TOURNAMENT winner;
All because somebody loaned her a marble,
And, that’s how she became the best player!

********

June 27, 2004

Aimee Love
(LHG)