POEM 30/30 (2013) #6: "At Three" By Larry J. Knight, Jr.

"At Three"
By Larry J. Knight, Jr.

Imagine yourself at three,
young, still believing in magic,
no disillusionment or doubt,
still wide-eyed and fond of smiles,
still enamored with sky and sea
and sun; still in love with innocence.
Those beautiful, idyllic days,
the ones celebrated in verse
and remembered in lamentations
issued by sage men on stoops,
they can always be reclaimed.

They are not myths.

They are not legends conceived
on the metal typewriters
of fiction authors; they are real.

Imagine yourself at thirty
or forty (or fifty), your world
altered beautifully by the absence
of marginalized thought, or
your eyes transfixed by beauty.

Your childhood yearns for freedom,
craves second chances at life;
it cries out in theme parks and fairs,
dimly lit movie theaters prompt
familiar aches for enchantment;
it secretly giggles each time a balloon
breaks free and soars and wafts
with invisible wings in summer.

Imagine yourself at three,
wonder and wishful thought
directing grown-up endeavors,
fascination and curiosity
at play in dusty, grey minds;
envision youthful smiles,
gracious, glowing laughter
and light and love
then begin to live.

(c) 2013 | Larry J. Knight, Jr.