I remember as a kid…
~
in a car

driving up a mountain

looking down at the city

a feast of jewels

on a plate of night
~
laying on the grass

looking up at the clouds

wondering what would have happened

if I hadn’t been born
~

long, cold rainy nights

waiting in the car

outside the legion

time laughed wickedly

in unison with the drunks

at the windows
~
eating the best smoked fish
~
my dog
~
the land
~

building dams in the creek

water spiders skated free

showing me I could be…

minnows nibbled toes

water gurgled to me

of a future

unknown
~

climbing tree branches

my ladder to freedom

like a dog at my feet

loyal to the acrid end

when I had to descend

and go back to

the homeless home
~

these were the gossamer filaments

that held my childhood, helter-skelter world

of dark nights and loose balloons together

~