that little girl

this morning, in that moment before awareness

i smelled the warm air suspended in my room

and i remembered

being young in the summer

with dirty feet and tangled hair

running out of the cooled garage

into the white light

across the street to the tree house

carpeted in leaves and shadows

jumping off of rough bark

with hands around twisted rope

to swing out into the sky

and i woke with tears in my eyes,

homesick for that little girl