Growing Up In Alton

Thoughts on Growing Up In Alton   by Moine McGibany

Sometimes she ain't pretty

sitting there on the bluffs of the muddy Mississippi

She was an All-America pretty

always home, always our city

We were Redbirds and Explorers

and scared by ghostly stories

We knew Lewis and Clark and winters quite stark

There was the Underground Railroad and Elijah P.

and the Piasa Bird that we couldn't wait to see

We knew Lincoln and Douglas and the Illini

as we grew up under the Piasa sky

We grew up with the Tallest man ever

and the world's greatest trumpeter

We came from Pie-town and Milton and Godfrey

and swam in an endless Blue pool for free

We were surrounded by Civil War history

with a Confederate prison and cemetery

We rocked that ARC 

and hunted crawdads in that Rock park

So many have left

So many have stayed

So many gone

So many brave

It's where we started

and where we were made

We met our first loves and found our forever loves

We loved nature, had culture and were misfits

It's been 50 years, but it's not over yet

Our lives will continue to change

but our memories of old friends and Old Alton will always remain

--Moine