The nights are getting warmer now 

And daylight coaxes out the blonde

Even though my hair is darker than it was 

When I was last here

The very same floorboards creaking under my step

Though I tread delicately 

In the dead of night 

Years ago I snuck out the porch door 

And laid with my back to the deck 

My arms outstretched 

And my eyes far away 

Seeing things that haven’t been seen 

Galaxies and nebulas, inventions and toys 

Birds with gossamer wings 

Astronauts with invisible spaceships

Men so tall they could stir the clouds

With the motion of their little finger 

And up,up,up I’d stretch 

Until I could trap the stars like fireflies in a jar

Before sinking back to the ground 

And returning to my slumber 

The nights are getting shorter now 

The days parched and flattened

And I am taller than I was 

When I was last here

I remember sunlight flicking through the leaves 

Onto the rusty bed of my red wagon 

Trailing behind me as I run 

I was never quite so fast as I wanted to go 

But fast enough that dirt spewed up behind me 

And the dust wouldn’t settle for minutes after I took off 

Running because the world was chasing after me 

Running, running, running

Scenery blurring and for a moment it felt 

Like I was flying upwards 

Through the thicket of branches into the sky 

And up, up, up I’d fly 

Past the sun, 

And between the stars, 

Like I was never coming down 

Like I could go and go and go and go and go

forever if I really wanted to 

The nights are getting longer now 

And the days are crisp and bright 

And I am older than I was 

When I could run and play the days away 

Nearly used to feeling grown-up 

With my widened shoulders and sharper gaze 

Tall enough to reach the cookie jar 

But too forgetful to remember why I wanted it in the first place 

I still look up at the stars 

But they aren’t so bright 

And it’s hard for a little red wagon 

to catch my eye anymore 

I used to run away from the world 

But it caught up to me so quietly 

And so gently 

It hadn’t occurred to me to fight it off

I am faster than I was when I last returned 

But there is nothing to run from 

And nothing to look towards 

Except for the glint of the summer sun through the leaves

And the path extending on into the distance