Summer 1983
The Tale of The Westside of
Nap Town
Poem By Jim Gandolf
©️09102026
We navigated Naptown by instinct and sun,
Lost on the West Side, nowhere to be,
When time moved slow and the days were won
Between Lafayette Square and Eagle Creek.
Those warm summer afternoons needed no phone
No endless texts, no glowing screens.
We just knew the spots where the crowd had grown,
Bound by the rhythm of being teens.
We’d roll into the Square, meet the whole crew,
Footsteps echoing light and loud.
Fresh Colorado hiking boots, brand new,
Leaving dark rubber scuff marks to make us proud.
A warm Hot Sam’s pretzel, salty and twist,
An Orange Julius, frosty and sweet,
Simple luxuries top of the list,
Fueling our wander through West Side streets.
Then off to the water when the heat got high,
Eagle Creek shore with the sand in our toes,
Renting a canoe under the Indiana sky,
Tipping it over as the laughter rose.
Drenched in the lake, we learned on the spot
A funny truth that the water reveals:
A soda can sinks right down to the plot,
While a beer can floats till the dynamic steals.
We were lost on the West Side, free in the haze,
No maps in our pockets, no place we had to be,
Just Naptown youth in those golden days,
Etched in the water, the mall, and the memory.
Jim Gandolf
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