By The Window

“There ain’t no sky today,”
Says the young girl from her swing.
A lecture on her grammar,
Then escape from pouring rain.

Near the window, she sits,
Watching Mother Earth cry;
If thunderclaps are footsteps,
Who is walking, and why?

Beckoned toward the rug,
To her spot, she then goes.
In a sea of chatter and noise
Hands fly up; curiosity flows.

Children love to ask questions,
Always want to know more—
Yet it fades ever slowly:
Inquisitive nature to a slamming door.

Where on our life journey
Does the wonder disappear?
Was it dropped just past the trailhead…
Is it even still here?

I look again at the rug,
A tightness in my chest—
How could I miss so dearly
One who never left?

She rolls in with the storm,
As rain pours and wind howls.
By the window, I sit and welcome in
The curious child I’ve always been.