CC0/Public Domain license
We took turns
led each other with words, a hand
on elbow or shoulder
Across wide yards, up stone stairs,
down brick passageways, onto nearby
streets, into safe alleys
and stopped — where are you?
We learned to map
without our eyes, see worlds
in our minds, draw
our own compass—arrow
and rose
We were like pigeons
homing
We were so often right
We knew how
to slow time, a special trick
of children
This way we played gave us
our sure sense of north,
(about which we boast), of where roads point,
of coast — before sniffing salty air
A simple game
by outdoor children, meeting
on the street
Children with nothing to do
We took turns,
a special trick of children
