I cannot remember
Exactly the time or place
For it is smeared across the canvas
Of my mind.
I only can recall
The hint of paper on a press
Still wet words being printed
On the pages of books.
They create an alphabet of enlightenment
To me as I try to recollect
What was so filling about those books.
And the rainy days spent on the porch swing
With the cup of hot chocolate
Growing cold with abandonment
As my four-year-old self
becomes engrossed in the world
Of Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein.
And my teddy bears and baby dolls grow to be
Educated in Oh, The Places You’ll Go!
And they’ll know Where the Sidewalk Ends.
The hours spent on that single painting in my memory
Is now smudged as though they were
Only silly times now fading and discoloring
On my canvas.