When We Were Young Poem by Angela Wybrow

I remember when I was a little child,
Both, you and I, used to run free and wild.
We plaited each others long, blonde hair.
Back then, our lives were free from care.

We spied both the butterfly and the ladybird,
And ate dainty tarts filled with lemon curd.
We jumped in puddles in our Wellie boots.
We searched in ponds for frogs and newts.

We both believed in fairies and in witches.
Monopoly money became our worldly riches.
Knees were scraped, and secrets were shared.
In awe, at coloured rainbows, we both stared.

We used to love playing out in the snow,
Which made our cheeks and fingers glow.
We played at ‘houses', ‘hospitals' and ‘shops'.
We performed plays with costumes and props.

We went on day trips down to the seaside,
Where we explored treasures left by the tide.
When our mums called us in for tea,
‘Just five minutes more? ' was our plea.

We played happily together, side by side,
And we gave each other piggy-back rides.
We used to pretend that our dolls could talk.
We drew on pavements with coloured chalk.

We pretended that we were beautiful princesses:
We wore gorgeous frocks, and had pretty tresses.
Often, we used to go paddling in the local stream,
Where we spotted fish, which had a silvery gleam.

For the future, we made so many plans,
And pretended to travel to far off lands.
We used to enjoy baking fairy cupcakes,
And the autumn leaves, we used to rake.

We built and we furnished secret dens,
And coloured pictures with felt-tip pens.
We never ever worried about wet weather;
The days, back then, seemed to last forever.

We spent so much of our time playing together:
It was as if our souls were, somehow, tethered.
We thought that these days would last and last:
We never thought they would become the past.