Once
Dedication: For you, J.O., and I; to the children we used to be.
Once . . .
two girls laughed in unabashed joy,
stringing jewelry of clover in meadows of green,
necklaces, bracelets, floral diadems,
They giggled contentedly in a landscape serene,
Once they spent evenings in dress-up gowns,
and loved nothing more than playing princess,
Together they invented a pack of wolves,
and pretended to be monsters during recess,
Once these girls had great creativity,
they made up stories and songs that were clever,
These soul sisters became blood sisters,
and promised each other to remain children forever,
Now these are shards of half-remembered song,
and only mere fragments of poetry,
Time has worn on and shown its lesson,
that "Never grow up" never can be,
Once the girls had boundless curiosity,
they loved to roam, to explore and discover,
spending their time in woods and attics,
waiting to see what mysteries they might uncover,
Once they ran as horses and swam as seals,
and this was more than just playing pretend,
It was real; just like being invisible does not make,
a magical animal an "imaginary" friend,
Once the girls read stories of fairies and magic,
and they knew in their hearts that these tales were true,
The reason adults didn't believe was because,
belief was something they had lost the power to do,
Now faith is a thing that the girls too have lost,
though they used to listen to such forgotten stories,
These are have become only faded fairy tales,
among a vast jumble of vanished memories,
Once, two girls laughed in the peace of childhood,
carefree in a world where everything made sense,
They lived life fully and loved each other,
Once, two girls played in blissful innocence,
Once . . .