FOR BUDDY

Sometimes I see in you
that ardent child you must have been
I imagine your eyes
big and shining in delight
with each new discovery in life
as seen by an eight-year-old boy
An earthworm almost stepped upon
becomes a treasure
as you watch it wriggle
beneath that crusted soil
each moist segment gleaming with damp
while you wonder how it can dig the dirt so.
A tree becomes a castle parapet
leafily protective of the small warrior within
as you climb its heights to see more
of that big world that gets smaller every day
and smell the orange-blossom amongst its bracts
that surprisingly can carry the bouncing weight
of that tousle-haired lad who long since grew
into you