Playing in the Dirt

 

Playing in the dirt,

a small patch of dried,

grey black soil,

the landscape of adventure

and imagination.

A child’s playground.

 

The dry, cracked, ground,

a crevasse to overcome,

a vein of Earth to test your

skills against in the pursuit of

your miniature goals.

Endless mystery.

 

The location of the Pirate’s

treasure, the tomb of some ancient

Pharaoh to be discovered,

a patch of desert to be

explored, the ground for the

epic final battle.

 

Playing in the dirt,

fingernails filthy with

the ground, knees dirty

and lightly scratched,

but forgotten in imagination

and fantasy.

 

A tiny landscape of

unmeasurable potential,

expansive in a young mind,

but hardly a patch of land

worth noting with old

eyes.

 

No more playing in

the dirt, when bills are

due, projects need completing,

and we must suspend our

desires with practical things,

and put our toys on the shelf.

 

Except this toy. This toy,

I will keep close.

We never know when the opportunity

to play in the dirt might come

again, and our imaginations are

aglow with adventure.