Memories

When I was a child, I was a princess Who lived in a beautiful castle, Surrounded by woods and fields This not true, of course, but that is How I chose to remember it, to celebrate it, That is how I chose to put it down To describe my growing up I would have to show you The stork`s nest on the roof of our house To describe my growing up I would have to take you To the field on a summer day And I would say, Breathe deeply- And you would breathe and remember That scent for the rest of your life The bold, rich aroma of fruit trees, Wheat and corn, the scent of air, A fragrance like baby animals, A new milk and a spilled wine, All perfumed with wild flowers To describe my growing up I would have to take you To our garden on a summer day There were carpets of flowers, And vines climbing the white lattice Of the arbor and a small shed Where I used to hunt for hidden treasures I was the princess of the summer And sometimes I would wonder Past the boundary of the garden At the dusky end of day We sang after dinner, silly songs On the porch swing, the sky grew dark And fireflies blinked on and off When I speak of my childhood, It seems part elegy, part nightmare But I want to talk only about the elegy I don`t want to go into deeper waters Where all the bones and wreckage Wait for my unwilling scrutiny Time can be generous For it allows us to forget our nightmares Time can be kind For it allows us to forgive the people Who had hurt us When I think about my childhood, My soul gazes like a lamb On the beauty of tenderness And I want to forget everything That was evil and bad- I want to see the world Through a dazzling prism Of my imagination I have preserved The multiform appearances Of my life as a little girl, The portraits and still life Visible through the blooming Window of time Time can be charitable Because it smoothes away the roughness, Erases the crooked lines And our old memories Are wrapped in glory