Sunshine Baby

Barely awake, it was only dawn My sleepy feet stumbled out the front door And onto the old swing on the grassy lawn Awake in peaceful stillness, like death No one else in the entire neighborhood Not a sound, nor a breath I yawned, my vision spinning side to side The old fence creaked as I opened it Trying to stand but swayed right outside That’s when I saw a little girl who ran In the distance; laughing happily and carefree As only the innocent and young can She had ruffled yellow hair Shoved into two short bouncing sprouts That bobbed merrily as she skipped, looking so fair The sweet freckled face had the quality of a dream The button nose wrinkled cutely The white teeth flashed in an innocent beam She had thick, warm honey eyes That smiled as big as her red lips did A smile that could warm the iciest heart full of lies She wore the brightest of yellow overalls And canary-yellow shoes That bounced up and down like rubber ***** Out of her overall pockets floated out golden sparkles Thick-looking and sweet-smelling, spraying heat That left a glittering trail behind her dancing feet A chubby brown hand clutched a swinging bucket Filled to the brim with warm, sweet sunshine The other scattering it behind her in an unordered line She didn’t seem to be walking She didn’t seem to run Her feet pattered, like tap-dancing She skipped to me with a happy beat And as she did, she stopped and Sprinkled some sunshine near my feet The toddler looked up and saw my bewildered face Her red dimpled cheeks blushing joyfully Honey eyes sparkling with an unworldly grace She did not say anything but came closer Bringing a dizzy sweet fire Erasing all cold cuts, leaving treasures to admire She skipped around in a circle, tossing glitters on me A sprinkle here… and… a little bit there… And sat cross-legged right then Wondering what my reaction would be As I was about to ask her what she had done Something with a slow melancholy beauty Indescribable, yet true, and happening Something vivacious and full of life’s fun The golden sunshine diamonds sparkled on my skin Wiping clean all scars on my heart And with a golden, pulsing love beat Seeped through, melting away all sins I felt alive to the brim My fingertips tingling My mind filled with wild dreams Pouring, gushing over the rim A sudden, sweeping golden heat rushed from my heart From the roots of my hair A rush of great, great happiness That reached my whole body, ever part My cheeks flushed from the joyful heat My lips redden from the welcoming warmth Feeling the energy of a restless dance Tapping in my normally dull feet The three-year-old laughed as she saw my expression change She handed me her bucket of sunshine Her little warm hand in mine We started to skip along the road I reached into the yellow bucket And felt the smooth and fine Warm and sweet sunshine In the palm of my fire-hot hands Strange the heat did not hurt me But made me crazy Something one may only feel, never see With all its powerful magic I laughed like the toddler holding my hand did From the bottom of our beings I danced like the baby did Never ceasing; without rhythm or rhyme For an immeasurable time We danced, and threw sunshine dust behind us Watching the trail of sunray dust Glitter and spread Together, we brought dawn The sandy, spicy glowing sunshine Spreading out to blanket the land Sunrise was brought by this child’s hand When dawn had completely broken She kissed me on the cheek And hugged with her plump arms Then bid goodbye forever with a Twinkling voice full of innocence’s charm Every year on that day, I wake up to watch The dawn of hers and mine She had not only two pocketfuls but a bucketful of sunshine And a heart and soul Full of pure, simple love Sunshine Baby