The Virtue of Innocence

Life seemed so simple

When we hung by our knees,

Dangling by a thin line above the concrete

When naps were thoughtful

And a cold sandwich was bliss

When garlands of flowers,

With petals soft and stained,

Tumbled from our heads;

Our hair a disarray

When fun was found amongst the grass,

An ever changing battle of siege and attack

When we rarely thought of the future

Or a life away from play

When reaching the tallest branch was our goal for the day

When work was little

And worries small

When we'd bet all we had for a wad of partly chewed gum

When we pretended to be grown

And couldn't wait to be free,

For we felt trapped behind the jungle bars,

Confined to the end of the street

We paraded in our mother's clothes,

Tried on our father's shoes,

Praying to grow an inch or even two

Little did we know,

That the sun would one day set,

That life wouldn't always be simple

And we'd always regret,

That those days we spent yearning

For the seriousness of routine

Would haunt us forever in cherished memories