I Found a 1950s “Answer and Color-in Book”
One day the children played
in the kitchen.
in the cellar.
in the yard.
The yard looked like
a meadow.
a forest.
an island in the sea.
The children forgot their
mud cakes,
swing set,
sticks,
when a girl taught them
cat’s cradles.
clay people.
folded paper boats.
Late afternoon, whispering, they lay
in a sandbox.
on the sidewalk.
in the grass.
Each knew the others had
a mother.
a father.
brothers, sisters, dogs.
They traded blood oaths that foretold
how close.
how long.
at what cost.
Source: Poetry (January 2015)