There was a child went forth each day,
That became every object she looked upon,
each item was,
A new memory for her,
to later think and dwell upon.

The grass at her feet, the sun in the sky,
The plants and animals before her eyes,
Each had grand qualities for her to descry,
All the things were captured, the totals mounted high,
And comprehension grew behind those bright blue eyes.

The brand-new pups, and the cat’s first litter,
Each was a joy, for nothing bit her,
Even the snake slithered quickly away, for fear of disrupting her carefree day,
She even knew the big dogs down the street, they happily greeted her too,
The geese just honked distractingly, or tried to bite her shoe,
The trees she patted, the frogs she poked,
Talking to all, but nothing spoke,
The rocks were her treasures, they appeared as by magic,
Filling her pockets clear up to the limit,
The things she encountered, and she, then became,
As like to each other as twin drops of rain.

The crabs and the snails, in salt water, shimmering captured,
Hiding all the things that she was sure she was after,
The spiky trees and the ones with leaves,
The pretty flowers and the purple leaves on the plum trees,
The blackberry bushes with thorns that are sharp,
Pricked her finger and caused her to start,
The luscious warmth of the long summer days,
The fresh smell that comes just after the rains,
Fresh baked bread and cookies too,
Fill the air with an aromatic summons, not to be refused,
The radiant heat that the bonfire emanates,
The rickety fence and the rickety gate,
Then watching the bonfire with the air up above it,
Shivering as if it were cold, to think of it!
Part of her became all of these things,
Her body was land-bound, but her heart sprouted wings.

The soft oily wool on the bellowing sheep,
The murmur of siblings who talk in their sleep,
The moon in the sky, with the stars up above,
The many dunes of sand for her to shove,
into mounds, building sand castles with moats,
Fighting the tide, and watching the boats,
Daydreaming in fields strewn with bright buttercups,
Watching beetles and worms and all sorts of bugs,
The ever changing clouds that skid across the sky,
The black and blue Steller’s jays, that fly up so high,
The smooth colorful feathers that float in the breeze,
The light playful zephyr twirling her skirt ’round her knees,
The small neighbor boy with his blanket and thumb,
The the older one by whom the younger was made fun,
These two were a curiosity, they fought, mocked, and played,
Sometimes they raced in the sun, and sometimes laid in the shade,
They were her friends, and they lived across the road,
She did not understand them though, no more than she would toads,
Ah, well, she sighed, but never cried, at least not very often,
She liked the springiness of grass, with moss beneath to soften,
Everything she saw was part of her, entwining with her being,
She used all of her senses,hearing, tasting, touching, feeling and seeing,
Soon it was not enough just to know the things she already knew,
Her thirst for knowledge and understanding, henceforth, continually grew,
So she set out at once, and was soon out the door,
Ready to experience, and explore even more.

12/26/2001

Posted on 12/26/2001
Copyright © 2024 Leandra K Brossard