Jacks (Jax) on a Rainy Day

On the days we were kept in the house because of the weather

if it was raining or wet and cold we all played together

Just different games but they would all get old 

 Mom knew just what to do, instead of giving us a scold

she taught games no doubt her sisters and she had played

She may have been thinking of that this particular day

Jacks was an easy-to-learn game that can be played indoors

 Or outdoors, on concrete, or anywhere on hard floors

You could play in groups or pairs or by your self was fine

All you needed was to gather them up and pick a partner that didn’t wine

a small bouncy ball and a set of jacks, which are six-pronged pieces of metal, those were the best

though most sets will have ten jacks, you could always add some to the rest

If your sisters would remember to put them back in the pouch and drawer

The pouch that held them was found at most five and Dime stores

The object of the game was to throw the ball up into the air

pick up a certain amount of jacks, then catch the ball you could even add some flair 

 The number of jacks that got picked up started with one

Then you went to two and three and four, and so and so on

If one jack is successfully picked up, the picked-up jack 

Was moved to the player’s opposite hand and then back

 the process was repeated, but If the player failed to pick up the Jack

His turn was over until the next players did the same and then he could come back

My mama would pick them up for 50 cents back in the day

But if you try and find them to buy now, be prepared to pay

A childhood memory takes me back to this rainy day

To a childhood game called jacks, most children used to play