Time outs between the time
When hours and seconds
Meld minutes by
Tiny hands holding on
While shrieks of laughter
Crowd the setting sun
Reflection of days to come
And days gone by
And what we’ve done
Moments captured
As bugs in a jar
Lighting the dark
Earth-bound stars

Paths created by force of nature
Waters flowing from here to there
Making slippery rocks
That prove only
A road too sweet to pass by
A slip
A fall
None too cautious
This day was made
For messes
And to let the boys be boys

Turn a rock
Nature’s garden
And the questions
That can’t be answered
Is this a rock or a dinosaur egg?
And what is behind that wall of shale?
A secret entrance to an undiscovered tale
Waiting to be told
We’ll be known throughout the world
And won’t that be something?
Only imagination
Limits the wonders to behold

What is there?
Minnows? Crawfish?
See how they swim backward
And the fish dart
A zig
A zag
Turn another stone
And the catfish scatter
Bumping blindly into legs
Giving way to laughter and surprise
Feeling the current
And the soft bed between toes
A funeral at sea
For a friend that will never be
And another red stone for a collection
Happy times to revisit often
As often as the water flows this way
And while boys can be boys
The discovery of the wonders that surround
Will someday make them better men
And the generations to come
As generations gone by
Are better for them