Barlow four, Lennie five
got together yesterday at my kitchen door.
They didn’t waste a minute. They ran outside
and played and talked,
found one adventure after another.
There was an affair with mud and grass
called soup and a jumping game
and a search for the barn cats game.
I watched and wondered what it would take
for me to have a day like that:
a friend, adventure after adventure.
They were too busy to eat until
hunger got the better of them
and they ran around with sandwiches.
The rain couldn’t stop them.
Nothing could stop them. The world
called out all day long.
At night Barlow fell asleep wrapped
in his bath towel, flopped into a chair.
That’s how I’d like to end my day;
worn out by joy.
— from Juniper Volume 7, Issue 1