Boy Inside Poem by Laurence Overmire

There was a boy inside me
Full of life
Full of fun
I used to see him in the mirror
Grinning impishly at me
He'd tell me secrets
Of the wildwood
And the elderberry trees
And speak of magic in the heart
Of every living thing.

‘Cross the babbling brooks of time
We would skip among the shadows
Chasing unicorns and dragonflies
Through the caverns of the mind
And then we'd stop and listen
To the silence in a stone
And touch the color of the rainbow
That only blind men know.

Yes
I miss the boy inside me
I miss that foolish grin
He left without my knowing
And I'm not sure why or how
But when I look into the mirror
I only see the frown.


(Previously published in Footprints, Vol.2, Issue 3, Fall 1999)