Light Blue Mountains

Light blue mountains rise above
the surrounding lands below.
The mists remind me of days gone by,
of times so long ago.

The trees that lap upon the sides
like waves upon the shore,
remind me of the forest lands
and happy days of yore.

When I ran free under the sky,
of night or of day,
when all the stars were shining bright
and no one else held sway.

No claims upon my time were made,
no lists to complete.
No urgent tasks I must perform,
no deadlines I must meet.

The child within me runs there still
in a defiant, pleasant way.
Playing hookey from her books
and calling me to play.

She peers at me from behind a tree
and does not understand
why I’m trapped here with my books
while she wanders the land.

She calls me from my studies,
my so-important tasks,
bidding me to come and walk.
“Why not?” she always asks.

I cannot explain to satisfy.
Indeed, I cannot say
why it is I cannot go.
Why must I stay?

The child within me lives there still,
a stranger to me now.
She lives within the world of mists,
the ever-present now.


She cannot see the future
and I cannot see the past.
And so, I suppose,
it has come to this at last.

The final step that one must take,
the journey evermore.
The growing up of children
and the last of days of yore.

Yet somehow I take comfort,
for I know within my heart,
She will run free forever
and never will we part.