The puppy-dog thoughts of a child

So evanescent, changing from moment to moment.

So simple, so pure, so fleeting.

Adoration, frustration, happy discovery

Hunger, satiation, pain, comfort

Sleepy, awake! Abandonment, reunion,

Comfort, adoration.

When did these puppy-dog thoughts

become complicated and hard edged

The black and white ideals and disdain of adolescence

Impatience mixed with anticipation, emotion divorced from thought,

and thought from emotion?

When did that change to emotion postponed and denied,

Anticipation enthroned as goals?

Others and self, judged against accomplishment,

The here and now lost in the hectic bustle,

The busy-busy of getting there?

Lean back and take a breath,

A moment, a pause

Experience once more the pure and simple,

evanescent puppy-dog thoughts of a child:

Adoration, frustration, happy discovery

Hunger, satiation, pain, comfort

Sleepy, awake! Abandonment, reunion,

Comfort, adoration.