Run, Child, Run

...run and run and run
some more
reach up high on the tips
of toes
who knows - you might just touch
the moon
or reach a star, but right now
it's the cookie jar

i remember when you said
when i grow up
i'm going to be a bird so i
can fly
i am - i really am.
i didn'nt have the heart
to tell you, you can't fly
but i kept a watchful eye
for training to start

i remember when you offered
me your prayer-folded hands and asked
do you want to talk to god?
i said no, but you say hi for me and you did
hello god, mom says, hi
bye god

i remember that Christmas mass when
you climbed into the crèche
rocked the baby jesus doll and sang
happy birthday to you in full voice
i was embarrassed - the priest cried and
he changed his sermon to 'and a little
child shall lead them...'

why must innocence end
why must we ever grow to think
we know more now than
we did then

(Excerpt from my journal when my daughter was 5)
© Perle Champion

Alice

I sometimes feel like Alice
bewildered and amazed.
One moment I am ten feet tall
the next I am so very small
hardly there at all.
Too bad I wasn’t given a script
what to do and how to do it
what to say and who to say it to
It’s all improvisation, and I have to
make do, muddle through
for me and you.

© Perle Champion





Which way did that rabbit go?

Persephone

As Persephone descends
to the dark kingdom
holding close the colors
of things needful for
next season
Stoic and brave she closes
the door on sol and
greets her dark lord
once more and
Keeps spring deep within
her heart.

© Perle Champion

Mad Hatter

I want to know what madness is
and where the edge of its beginnings are.
I have skirted its hem and felt its cold breath
raise the hackles on the back of my neck
a cat's whisker sensing what
comes in stealth to
rob me of peace
of mind
of me.
Flee.

© Perle Champion