Happiness In Ignorance

I wish I could go back,
Back before I knew better.
When fairies roamed the yard,
and every dew drop
was an Angle's tear---
crying over the beauty of life.
Back when I knew I was in trouble
if I was still at the park
and the streetlights flickered on.
And 'trouble' simply meant
"Next time you'll be grounded!"
And 'grounded' had no meaning.
When I'd run outside,
barefoot and screaming,
leaving the door wide open
everything behind me,
only to pick yellow weeds
and call them flowers.
When I'd play with the boys
and prove myself
as one of them.
Mud pies and Butterflies.
Simultaneously
Before there was a difference
between stories and lies
Before the line,
between reality and dreaming,
became tangible.
When catching minnows was a great adventure,
and the bad guys always lost the fights.
Before cap guns got replaced with the real thing.
When making a new friend
was as easy as saying,
"Hi! I'm Gina! Wanna play?"
When sleep came easily
after a long day of exploring.
And boys had cooties---
end story, end discussion.

in a world where innocence thrived
and guilt equated to eating a cookie before dinner
when if anything wasn't right
i could go outside and play pretend
for hours.
until it was better.
or until i forgot.

Take me back,
to the little girl
with long braided hair,
and calloused hands.
With stains on her t-shirt
and dirt on her face.
The little girl,
who believed she had the power
to change the world,
reverse the current.
The girl who believed in dreams,
and miracles
and fairy tales,
and true love.
The little girl that had everything figured out.
The little girl I used to be.