Big Wheels, Tonka trucks, Pokémon or
Plastic Potter Elder wands promise
Poor boys and rich alike moments
Of longing for what once was;
When boys become men, the longing may
Persist when memories from high school
Or moments of virgin newness
Create an ache for that feeling of discovery,
That exquisite ecstasy of, “That’s what
All the hype is about.”
And long before middle age, the nostalgia
Sets in
As larger moments in life like birth, death, love
Eclipse the trip of a lifetime or important conversations
Until one event or thought triggers
That gnawing yearning that ravishes the heart
And wracks the mind—and some cave
And some deny
And some try desperately to reclaim that time
And some, if they are lucky, read something
Early in their lives
That inspires them
to understand that all of their moments,
Even those gained in the final minutes of their terrestrial existence,
Must be compounded in order to create
Who he is.
(By the way,
It’s the same for girls.)
Word Play 