We Age as Creeks Flow

Blissful bright sun pours

Over picnics in green backyards

Resting palms on Gingham 

Siblings trade silly bands

Sipping on apple juice 

A now fuzzy memory 

Sometimes warm and light 

Often sub zero, dim 

Blocked memories and closed doors

Locked closets and hidden skeletons 

Secrets kept, secrets shared

In the sanctity of midnight 

Cloaked by blanket fortresses

Affixed to leather couches 

Soft illumination of flashlight 

Hours spent in prison cells 

Glazed eyes aimed at white boards

Passing notes and sharing looks 

In the blink of an eye

Or a wink 

Or a smile 

Red wine replaces grape juice 

Boxes filled with memories 

Accumulate dust in attics 

Pacing in circles 

Instead of 

Running in them

Missed trains 

Ruin days, as numbers

Run rampant in heads 

Consumed by to-do lists 

Used textbooks 

leases

But it didn't rush in 

Like waves 

All at once

It's not an instant meal 

Or a single moment 

Quickly cooked and consumed 

Growing up is a lot like 

Growing out 

Creeping woody branches 

Or maybe its like 

Growing apart

Rotted twine that once tethered soup cans

It's no swift rabbit 

That breaks 

Ribbon with ease

Rather, a snail

You hadn't noticed

Inching by 

One that may never reach it's final desitnation 

A worthless yet idolized place 

Big house, a spouse, two kids 

All work, no play 

Forgetting fairytales and

Paper Mache 

A place as real 

As universal truths 

Or impenetrable lies 

We age as creeks flow

At our own pace

In every and any space 

Without defined 

Beginning or 

End