I dreamt

I was swimming on the shore,

That appeared by the playground of my childhood school.

The scene set was a beach,

Where all my classmates splashed about.

Laughter set the kids apart

from the shrill cries of the seagulls;

But all of it echoed the sounds of those -

The ones who knew no such beaches.

Who wore snow-pants and winter boots,

And played in slush pooled at a storm drain instead,

Or the muddy grassy streams of spring, that only form during a big melt.

There I laid, on the sand.

With Sun in my eyes, I turned to an unfamiliar face.

I turned it into the person I was thinking of.

And then, she thanked me for including her.