A gaggle of boys
Words for my fellow-similarly-afflicted...
A gaggle of boys
A gaggle of boys, ten years old, maybe eleven
running to the park in this old neighborhood
The rains slowed today. Kids come
pouring out like sunshine in the puddles
*
Bouncing a ball, ripe in excitement with them.
One of them stops, turns around to holler
The rest pause too, looking back
laughing out in knowing surprise and affection
*
I look to see what's made them pause
One of them, a boy delayed by a flowering tree!
Boldly poised, posing, bursting with blooms
Is it Crabapple, Apricot, Peach or Cherry?
*
Grabbing a branch, pulls its flowers to his nose
Trees in spring -- so full, so loud, so hard to ignore
Gazing deeply at the blooms for just that moment
then pulls away knowing he’s got to let go
*
His friends loudly yelling, C’mon, Come on!
They laugh, he smiles, runs to their restive command
I know just how this kid and his ilk are stalked,
interrupted, distracted by nature’s demand
*
How that’ll rob him of his breath, his mind
Not letting him pass by in mindless inattention
It’ll make him run late, dawdle, fumble, waste time
While the whole world waits in hapless suspension
*
I wanted to stop this kid and tell him --
I know. I know. Young man, I get it.
This mad affliction still holds me each time.
You won’t win. Just let it…
###
Hope you enjoyed my poem that came to me as I walked this old neighborhood. It’s soaked, shiny in fresh bathings from much needed rain — and how! It’s put a spring in our step and much more. So much that even the very young pause to notice…
Write and tell me what you think. Do the sights of nature stop you in your tracks too?
I was that boy, and, as a man, I am still that boy. I know, of course, that your poem isn't "about" boys, that there are girls who are just as attuned to the beauty that surrounds them, but there comes a point in the maturation of boys when their peers are less tolerant of such raptures. Power to the ones who hold fast and true to their soul's inclinations.
It's a beautiful sentiment, Reena, expressed in a lovely poem. Thanks for sharing it.
Love this Reena. A perfect poem and perfect topic as spring and children come out to play