child I am

wanting laughter

seeking smiles

hungering for touch

yet

more than three score years

dwells in my bones 

etches aging heart

breath recalling each step

counting thousands perhaps millions

flowing inescapably into memory’s tapestry

journeys ankle deep in sliding sand

treks across life’s wet red clay

roads oft time seen on hands and knees

where went the child of me

 

winter bared trees 

capture hard crystal light

keeping warmth from caressing

face pale with unknowing

cold shadows ebb across trail

yet

when I sit deep in oak leaves

hug knees to shivering chest

I am suddenly aware

awed by ephemeral winter bells

tiny delicate defiant blooms

beauty so alien

only my soul’s infancy could see

child I am

even at more than three score years

I ken defiant winter bell is me

​