Looking back...

Sometimes we get nostalgic. Poetry is a good way to express those feelings and give them a particular weight.

This is a piece that I sent to the 2002 edition of the "Montagne d'Argento" contest from Keltia Editrice, and it was chosen for publication. The theme was childhood games and toys, and so I chose this and translated it.  

Dolls in the Closet

As I look at them today,

They seem to ask:

Where have you been, little one?

You used to pay close attention,

And care daily for us-

Dress us, and brush our hair.

What toys are you playing with

Now that you are grown?

A window to childhood –

These dolls in the closet.

Lifeless creatures of plastic

That once were so real.

The sisters I never had,

Or the children I would have someday.

They played these roles, once-

Long ago.

Now, as I brush their hair again

And wipe away from their eyes

The dust of the years-

Their faces shine beautiful

As always.

And after I’ve fixed them

All up again, with ponytails

And changed clothes,

Back into the closet they go-

To await the next time

I come to play.