Those Who Helped Me

"...so anything I remember from that day other people have helped me to remember."

-Newt, Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.

We forgot our childhoods

the day we became grown,

the day when all that

mattered was the clothes

on our backs. That all that

mattered was how much

money's in the bank.

We forgot the terror,

the brightness,

the newness of eternity

that stretched beyond us

like an Amazon river,

monkeys hollering

and whooping behind us

where

grasshoppers can tickle the

backs of our legs for free.

We forgot the comfort

of never needing clothes

or food or drugs or drink,

the power of a sugar cigarette

and summer sun to make our

heads spin. The possessive

need to have one thing of our

own. Polly Pocket,

Tamagotchi, how many

cards would you trade for that?

I'll sell it to you. Got any

quarters? Lemonade and

hot chocolate filled our

veins and sunshine bent

a need to go

higher, above, one sapling

branch at a time. Body

light as heaven, saptangled

hair. Our pockets overflowed

with flowerbud grenades

to shower on our elders and

yell, "I'm here! We're here!"

and fall to fits of laughter.

To make them look up,

hesitate. To make them

see if they can find a

tiny face and flashing teeth,

indistinct among the applause

of a foliate sky or

to remember.