I am from summer nights out on the deck,

    until the frigidness reaches from my toes to my fingers

watching each firefly illuminate the dark, swaying grass.

From washing the baby blue car

    on blistering summer days, only to find out

this car would soon be mine...

And from going on adventures --hikes, hide n’ seek, building a fort--

with my best friend through the leafy forest

to see on the other side, a colossal play set filled with children.

I am from toe-numbing, snowy evenings

    the smell of sweet baked cookies

in time for Christmas...

From a sweltering house, decorated with that Christmasy feel,

    the crackling, skin heating, blazing fire,

while a family lays under blankets to watch Christmas Vacation.

And from the first clement day of spring,

    the sun warming a child’s pale skin,

while she dances around in the growing grass with flowers beginning to bloom...

I am from those lingering summer nights

    chasing friends through sprinklers

just until the streetlights come on, to let us know it’s time to go home.

To this day, I am still a kid from a happy childhood,

    hoping one day my children get to experience
a firefly watching, technology free childhood...