Childhood

My stomach grows

I feel him kick

Just for a moment

He does it quick

The dirty porch

It’s rickety chair

It’s thick and hot

In the summer air

Sweat beads down

My growing tummy

It’s worth all the days

That I feel crummy

I remember when

You were just a wish

A simple thought

Or a prayer I just couldn’t get

I place my sticky hand

On this round belly

The day we found out

Knees felt like jelly

The dirty porch

I ran around on as a kid

You’re first steps

You’ll here take as I did

The way I ran

Down the cement stairs

My father chasing me

Sweaty in the summer air

Touching the grass

In my bare feet

The sound of the locusts

Loud in the summer heat

Lay down, he’d tell me

Listen to the birds sing

It was like just for me

Their voices would ring

We’d take a nap

Awake in ants

Running off

The summer plants

He’d carry me inside

In his strong achey arms

Lay me down on the porch swing

Listening to summer’s charms

He’s long gone now

But a cardinal visits

All the time

He sits on the spigot

Remember its cool water

I’d run through your hair

How you’d close your eyes

In the hot summer air

Oh my child

I say to you

It’s all but a memory

I still cling to

Now it’s my turn

To give you those moments

To soak in the times

And the feelings that’s potent

And as I think this

The cardinal stops by

Reminding me he’s here

And watches with an eye

Hello my child

I can hear him say

I can’t wait to watch

The grass you’ll two lay

Don’t for a second

Think you are lonely

You and your baby

Plus me you’ll be wholly