Perichoresis

-1-

We made up games as we went

Jumping, laughing, hiding,

Count to one hundred

Ready or not here I come

Olly Olly Oxen Free

Here we go round the mulberry bush

Double-Dutch, blind-man’s bluff, follow the leader

Jumping, laughing, hiding.

-2-

Then we grew up.

It’s all serious now.

Games as serious as a mortgage

Best left to professionals

After all, they’re paid millions to

Train and train and train and

           Die young

While we watch television.

-3-

There’s so much noise now

We can’t hear over the traffic, the

Talking heads, politicians shouting

Their lies while our toxic bosses

Demand and demand and demand

Because, after all, it’s all about

Productivity there are goals and

Quotas to be met, after all.

-4-

When I was a child, I was silly like a child,

Until I was scolded for being a silly child.

Hush, the grownups are talking.

Mind your manners, say excuse me,

Cover your mouth, carry your plate to the

Kitchen, say may I, please, thank-you.

Grow up, boy! My, what a fine young lady!

Life is serious business.

-5-

Fearfully I was hiding in the rocks

A tornadic wind blasted

A raging fire raged

No sign of any divine beings until

So softly, so quietly, so gently

A whisper, barely audible, came,

Hey, child, over here,

I want to come out and play with you.

-6-

Hang what the old folks believe

Ignore the scoffing and mockery

Disregard those holy people who

Have forgotten how to smile

With their lists of rules and etiquette

And stern consternation

Who cares what the neighbors think

-7-

Oh, how we played!

We danced and sang,

Spun and jumped

Sang silly songs and

Nonsensical rhymes

We played peek-a-boo with

Bears and mountain goats and

Laughed until we couldn’t breathe

-8-

Exhausted with joy, we fell into

Each other’s arms and whistled

Along with the nightingale

Spun stories, told jokes, got into a

Tickling contest and drifted into

Fairytale sleep dreaming of

Riding candy canes across an

Aquamarine sky.

LRT

30 July 2024