climb with me

One of the main pastimes of my childhood was climbing trees. We knew the best ones to climb and the best technique; the best fruit at the best time of year - especially mangos and guavas... although we ate them even if they weren't ripe! I have so many memories of just hanging out in trees! Probably sounds random to most people, but for us it was just so normal. One of my fellow tree-climbing friends from those days has just written a poem that sums it up... all I can say reading this is a sense of lingering nostalgia; she captures it perfectly.

--
canopy

climb
with me to the top
of the mango tree where
the fruit is
ripe and the air
smells green we seem
to hover
over earth almost in the sky
no longer bound
by gravity or sanity just
playfilled delight and bubbling glee
pretend with me as
we scramble
from branch.

to branch.
bruising knees skinning
shins chins sweet
with juice proof we’ve found
eden’s fruit eternal youth within
our grasp sap covered
hands feet bathed
in dirt revert
to ageless days
unafraid

by Jesse Kaminski