Childhood Express

I wish I could be a child,

swing and slide like a wild.

I wish I could play,

            And smile like sun’s golden ray

All the games of childhood days,

            makes me feel lighter in many ways.

Hair-bands, clips, ribbons, frocks and skirts,

            these are the most precious possessions of my heart.

The child had all the time to juggle and chime,

            those were the days of pure happiness and clime. 

Joy rides in cycle we buzzed like bees,

and like Spider-Man and Tarzan we climbed boughs of trees.

 To steal from neighbour’s garden sweet-scented flowers,

            and to bathe in God’s blessings of rainy showers.

Unripe mangoes and berries with stones aimed by us dropped,

With much gastronomic delight it went into our mouth as we popped.

Kulfis, jolphai, local chips, poppins, chewing gum, gems and Amul’s Fruit ‘n Nut,

our drooling mouth never did for such tasty treat shut.

ABCs and 123s, spellings and dictations,

            Classworks and homeworks and poems for recitations.

Gold Spot, Lock and Key, Dog and the Bone and Hide and Seek,

a game era before we became tech-saavy and a geek.

Life as a child was so simple and fun,

            as we hop, skip, jump and run.

Those are the moments, to time forever lost,

            Memories I can never buy from markets and shops at any cost.

I wish I could steal a child’s innocence and laughter.

            If not in this life, probably God will bless me in the life after!