Easy Go

The summer sun
Cascades through
The leaves.
Their newly dirtied shoes
Escape silently as they
Flee from "base."
She counts as high as she can:
"To ten, two times."
The ants feast upon her
Freckled flesh.
"Ready or not, here I come!"

The autumn breeze
Nips at her exposed knees.
Fresh notebooks lie open
On the broken sidewalk
And the tears scrape
Against her tired cheeks.
She counts the steps
Her sister takes and
Wobbles along beside her.

The winter's chill
Sets into her face as
The ice shatters the
Silence.
The air, not long ago
Filled with peals of
Wild laughter,
Is cold and uninviting.
Trash can lids bang against
Her calves and she
Slips up the hill,
Her brother carving the way before her.

April showers
Bring new life as
She digs her toes into
The wet soil.
Towering over the cucumbers.
Muddy fingertips proudly polish
An uprooted prize as
She beams in the soft sunlight.
The breeze dances on
Her sun-warmed back.
The trees sing
As the scent of lilac sweeps
Across her dirt-streaked face.