Yesteryear's Skates

I can remember
Learning to skate
With the old, metal
Clip-on skates
That attached
To the soles
Of my shoes.
That was back
Before the advent
Of Teflon wheels
And wheel bearings
That actually spin.
It took a fairly steep hill
To achieve
The breakneck speeds
We wanted.
I have no idea how
The “Flat-Landers”
Skated at all
Back in those days.
This was before
Skateboards
And inline skates
Were even invented.
I don’t suppose
One of those
Primitive skates
Is worth much
These days,
Not even as
A museum piece,
But the memories
Are priceless.