When I Was a Girl

When I was a girl,

     The pond’s winter ice was so thick, you could fall through it.

     Not so thick as to hold you, just to fool you into thinking it could.

These days, it doesn’t freeze at all.

When I was a girl,

     Every afternoon felt like a Mark Twain novel,

     Out on the raft, stick pushing against the bottom-most mud.

These days, the bullfrogs have fallen silent.

When I was a girl,

     I let my imagination run, mustang wild,

     Unadulterated by conditioned inhibitions.

These days, I feel wilder than ever.