(“The Big Kids and The Little Kids”)

(Mitch Thayer, Kelly Pratt, Leslie Thayer, Lisa Thayer, Kari Pratt, Steve Pratt, Grandpa L. G. Pratt)

we rode upon broomstick horses

galloping through the thick thorn forest

dragonflies hovering

plucking the plumpest raspberries

ripe and sweet from the crowded bushes

generously heaving

(Mitch & Steve)

inexhaustible, our imaginations

followed every footprint

our shadows danced,

lit by the man in the moon

we left no stone or cartwheel unturned

felt the moss squish between our toes

washed our bare feet in the sand

of the blue lake

gleaming

she was always there to greet us

and make friends again

the lake,

loyal and lucid, the sound of her

reassuring shore beckoned

waiting to cup us in her watery hand

guiding us

float our dog paddling cherub bodies

teaching,

as her loving waves caressed

our rosebud cheeks

(Grandma Audrey & Westie)

beautiful, bountiful, bliss filled summers

roll off my memory like pearls dropping

one by one, off a necklace in need of repair

memories,

I gather up and tuck safely

in a jewel box

just as my grandmother Audrey

would’ve done

in the dense lilting air

mosquito bitten arms wave

in remembrance of innocence

of youth unencumbered

the balmy summers of nature’s breast

beating like the wings

of a morning dove

soft, gentle, humid

clinging to the child

in all of us

L. K. Thayer

© 2010

Thank you cousin,

Kelly Pratt