When I can sit and imagine,

What’s happening

In the world around me.

I mean my couch and my plants,

My dog playing nearby,

The present thoughts in my mind.

I think about how quickly I go

Down that slippery slope,

The one that conjures the sights

All around me that bring me

Back to the forest in my front yard.

That parcel of wood

Held my childhood

Through rainy days and snow,

Hot summer afternoons,

Boyhood campfires,

Still burning when I went up to get my flashlight.

I wasn’t a very good boy scout,

I whispered to myself stamping on the flames,

My friends waiting down below

Not even sure why I took so long.

Those are all memories today,

Little flashbacks in my mind.

Now I torture myself,

Years of practice trying to figure out that one thing,

That one thing eludes me.