There Was A Time Poem by Juan Olivarez

There was a time in your early life,
That you saw the world with wonder.
A summer sky, filled with fluffy, floating clouds.

And heat never mattered and didn't bother you.
The wind blew through your hair and,
Whispered secrets at your attentive ear,

There was a time in your early life,
That you would gaze with wonder at the night skies.
And the stars, so close, and yet so infinitely far.

Walking down the canal bank looking for blue gills,
Finding a deep hole where they would go to escape the heat.
And pulling out a bunch for supper.

There was a time in your early life,
When alone you would walk through the orchards,
Smelling the blossoms and picking a ripe orange to eat.

Oh the times you would lay awake at night,
Listening to the singing of the frogs and toads,
After one of those sudden drenching thunderstorms.

There was a time in your early life,
When all that mattered, was waiting for you,
Right there in your own backyard.

And you never looked on the other side of the fence,
Because you knew deep in your heart,
That your backyard had the greenest grass.

9/21/11 Alton Texas