WHEN I WAS A CHILD
I choose to remember when I was a child
That the streams fell o’er rocks running free and wild
And trickled neath the garden wall
Through crevices that time installed.
The spattering rain bore a scent of pleasure
That’s stored in my mind like a hidden treasure,
These simple joys which I once knew
With passing years much fonder grew.
Some mornings I’d lie on the side of the hill
While the wind whistled tunes that sent me a chill,
With quick’ning pace fleet life had lent
I wondered where that springtime went.
Small prickly green spikes rushed to cover the ground
Bold to herald new seasons the year had found,
Those terms I’d based my life upon
Too soon before my youth had gone.
Each brook seemed to flow as though thought were inane
While crooning a song with a wistful refrain,
I tread beach sand so clean and white
And sadly kissed each day goodnight.
I marveled at clouds that decided to play
In the midst of a hot sultry August day,
First they were blue then rose then pink,
Plum in time for that sun to sink.
The fields wore a garland of flowers in bloom
With cascades of blossoms to sweeten the gloom,
I touched the frost that capped the sea
As the summer’s length swept past me.
I awoke with mixed chatter of migrant birds
To witness God’s errand that needed no words,
I laughed with glee when autumn came
Cause I’d heard of October’s fame.
The perfume of burning leaves since done away
Was the smouldering ash of another day,
Now I’ve grown old I still recall
Those umber leaves that echoed fall.
On overhead boughs naked and shivering
Lay remnants of nests in the wind quivering,
While logs and twigs were known to sleep
All winter long in snow knee-deep.
Soon white flakes that grandeur knew obscured the sky
While I with quick breath did watch the last bird fly,
The years are gone but not the thrill
Forget that time, I cannot still.
There was heart to smell and feel and taste and see
Perhaps question what life was offering me,
Why must truth hide behind a mask
To yield unwon its precious task?
