To My Dear Friend

While my hair was still a jungle
overgrown with curly Qs of mischief,
my dimples were mere afterthoughts
sprinkled lightly in the summer sun.
I sat there squished,
and frantically licking my popsicle
before the thieving sun.
You sat beside me, eating yours.
You played with your toes and dripped grape
onto mine.
Each of us holding on with tiny fingers
to our quickly melting innocence.

At seven I floated on an elephant
riding away through the clouds.
And you on the dragon,
smoke billowing into mist.
Grass itching our backs you mumbled your six-year-old love.
I scratched my tickled elbow and sailed away
through the drifting sea on my fluffy pirate ship.

At thirteen I stopped soaring,
and landed on the heavy ground.
I learned to walk with lead in my feet
and always in my hands.
The world engulfed us,
two flightless birds dissolving into the infinite eye.

At nineteen we met each other
for the first time.
Youthful giggles replaced by seasoned wisdom.
Oh, but your boyish grin never walked away
and neither did our childhood.
What to do with nostalgia?
Oh, how it scolds us still.

The campfire burned to embers
and our fathers embraced as brothers
that day. Years passed
like before, bookmarked for another.
But life’s fists fell hard
across our youthful dreams,
and stole you from us.
But I still have your boyish grin in my pocket
and years of adventure skinned upon my knees.
When you come down to visit,
look for me in the clouds
searching for lost treasure,
searching for you.