Joni Deutsch

We stepped into the shade

Of the woods by the front lawn

Warm mud below,

We squished onto tippy-toes

Hands searching for stars

So out of reach

Branches much closer,

Our wishes were made

On wands of maple.

The unattainable,

Too unreliable

In a childish tumult,

We fell overboard

Straight into an ocean

Of that sticky-warm mud

As we recovered from giggles,

We stretched up once more.

Plucking the first branches we touched,

We revealed the secret cream filling

With grubby hands.

Pushed by a cool breeze,

We stumbled up to Medicine Rock.

With wands at the ready,

A little girl and her best friend

Enter into an enchanted duel

But not to the death for,

Me without her, or her without me,

Would surely not do.

Those spring days were for living,

Forever a pair of two.