Harvesting Youth

Harvesting Youth Harvesting youthful energy Takes time and vitality Diamond and ruby Hand and machinery Poof goes the jazz hands A trimmer in the extremities And tapping shoes A person off beat and balance Heavy feet drag Brittle bones crack Speech is paused and delayed Breathing comes heavily Blind is the eye Wrinkled are the hands that Held youngins And tended to their cry Made tomato paste And sweet potato pie Now in a broken place Climbing out of windows And wandering streets Become commonplace Laughter bring eyes to tears In the heart a song plays In a dream one is doing the mashed potatoes and the twist Where must I go? To a zoo? Talent show? Playground? Museum of art? An amusement park? Sitting in the breeze Underneath a maple tree Birds chirp Bugs bite and hide Must I ponder upon the morrow? Marckincia Jean Free verse 06/27/19