When I was a child
we played with sticks, rocks and mud, and
garter snakes until they escaped
into the long grass of unmown fields.

We looked for frog eggs —
and later for tadpoles — in
murky ditches of standing water
alongside gravel roads.

We went barefoot
and sometimes forgot to sidestep
the patches of barbed sand stickers that
latched onto the soles of our feet.

When I was a child
growing up in a small town,
I never realized
what a privilege it was.

CFFC: Blue and White