My Little Innocence
Neal Gebhard


My mind, it slips and goes,
Wandering betwixt languages
And between reflections
Of the fan against my
Window.

There’s a simple
swaying swing set
and a girl holding
a set of moons
against her breast.

I’ve but one beyond her own.

Oh, little innocence
So young and fair,
You’re honest and true
A gem, some place in my
Memory.

You’re sitting there sighing,
A breath between footfalls
Of strangers passing by;
Blue eyes beneath bright blonde
Hair.

Cold hands
About my own
Warm in the face
Of your tingling
Fingertips.

Your eyes see
Through a window
In the space within my mind.

We’re walking
Hand in hand,
In a sort of
Strange-love at last,
And we talk beyond
The deepening blue.

As twisted tongues
Turn into laughter
They transform to
The deepest
Thought.

We fall asleep upon the hilltop.

When my eyes arise
The wind says
You’re gone;
Your frigid hands
Have replaced
My own.

I never got to kiss you
Grow up with you
And grow old with you,
But it’s perfect
Just like
That.