summer legs

summer begs

grass below my bare feet
used to always remind me

of being a child
in the country

catching bugs
climbing trees
making forts out of vines
and twigs tangled with leaves

playing in the the back yard
watching salmon fight
in the town's famous creek

games of hide and seek
in the dead of night
with no moon out

you couldn't even believe the dark
crouching in the weeds.


but that was all long ago
now my feet, flat and bare on the grass
only remind me
of little pricks
pins and needles
kneading into my skin

making each step
more difficult
than the last.