2014

Childhoods built upon

Castles and pirate ships.

Left behind in the dunes of memory

Shall lead us once more.

Within worlds where reality doesn’t 

care

And fantasy has been forgotten.

Adult, we shall lose our way.

So let’s build a bridge somewhere

faraway.

A place I shall be

Holding melted snow globes of

yesteryear.

Flooded by my own crocodile tear. They never taught us how to swim.

The white rabbit has left and the cat no 

longer grins.

With only dreams of raft, I sink,

Maturity is a caucus race I’ve never

won.

Falling, I can’t remember where I’ve 

been.

Asking for directions I meet Peter Pan

Lost in a board meeting, rambling about 

clocks.

I ask him where the fairies went,

He asks me for the time.

Leaving, I’m handed a Never-ending

Story.

But I’ve run out of names to give

And no longer can read the words.

So I tell lies instead.

Hitchhiking, I’m found by Little Prince

Who guides me back, and tells me

Words of foxes, roses, and men who flew. 

Teaching me of things more urgent than

numbers.

At the end of the road, a child in blue

and sliver stands upon yellow.

“Good or bad, does it matter anymore?”

I answer her, she smiles.

Taking my diploma, she hands me an

old pair of converse

And tells me to go home.

Now here I stand, wiser, older, but a 

little younger too.

On the edge of yesterday and tomorrow.

Held up by childhoods built strong,

A foundation for adults still young.

Here we stand.

Not yet adults, but no longer children.

Guarded by rabbits and words.

Maybe we’re still a little lost,

But we were never abandoned.

-Kayley Hart Kemplin