Rainbow Bridge Park

In the City of Ventura
Lies a very special park,
Made just for kids,
A complex maze
Of wooded structures
That I helped build.
Up until that point
I had never been involved
In any community activities,
But someone had a vision
Of the playground complete
At no cost to the town.
They simply sold a bunch of us
On the idea
Of creating this thing,
And I, like hundreds of others,
Volunteered to do the work.
We were masterfully coordinated,
Each handling a myriad of jobs.
Sometimes I would be on the saw
And other times carrying lumber,
Occasionally bolting the wood together
And other times
I would be trimming bolts,
Making sure that no child
Could get hurt playing
In, around, over, under or through
The fort we built.
There was a spirit there
That took hold of us all
And it dawned on me
That was what it must have been like
During the barn raisings
In days of old.
I was in awe
Of the spirit generated.
If that spirit could be tapped for a year
Practically the whole city
Could be rebuilt from scratch.
As it was, it took us
Just three days
To complete the project.
There were bankers and lawyers,
Stock brokers and secretaries,
Students and parents alike,
A whole community of volunteers
Acting in unison.
Those of us who participated
In the Rainbow Bridge Project
Got our lives out of what we did.