Restless child
bare legged and brown,
lying outstretched in the Lilies
staring up at the Bagworm trees

Summer child
howling into sewer pipes, crawling after possums
throwing rocks at the Cotton Mouths lazing by the creek

Reckless Child
approaching a deserted barn
slanted and rickety, like an old woman beckoning escape
from the swelter of the sun

Wind swept child
squatting in the mud, burning straw and dandelions
next to the creaky porch where the baby rabbits were born

Winter Child
trembling in the gloaming
when the cardinals fly out of the moon
onto the even, solitary snow

Lonely child
luminous and strange, out at sea
where the owl and the pussycat strum in a time
counting backwards into the waves