We sat on the back deck
to eat cherries
biting into the red flesh
to rub a stain on our lips, teeth, clothes
we had seed spitting contests
and laughed
with sticky fingers
we pondered the wind and the rain
and bored summer days,
which turn into the most interesting, anyway
the dog jumped through the hula hoop
and my heart ached for mom
we biked furiously to the lake
and jumped in splashing
and feeling the sand and the tickling plants at our feet
sometimes on lonely days, bored days, cloudy rainy days
I find myself back there
a time-traveler in my own right
adventurous child in my heart
fruit flesh, sticky sweet on my mouth
wind in my face and fearless, child energy.