little girl

little girl, why do you trace
your fingers through the air?
she wanted to paint the sky
a pale blue field with fluffy bunnies
if only i could understand
the mind of one so innocent
i’ve always marveled at the fingers
tracing pictures in the sand

little girl, why do you stand there,
tears in your face, beneath the rain?
her dreams were dashed to pieces
by the gray that obscured the white
i too wish that i had never
lost the blissful ignorance
i’d give back the fruits of my knowledge
for my childhood naïveté

little girl, why do you look
down at the ground and not around you?
now her smile outshines the sunlight
piercing through the shadowed clouds
i know not all is lost in life
the spark of joy reflected in
the eyes of the ingenuous child
is hope beyond the manifest