I remember when touching the mantlepiece

Was an accomplishment

And Mommy

Was a long way up.

Funny, heaven seemed

So much closer then.

I remember when the table

Was a ship to ride on,

And a refuge from switches

And baths,

And the world was a little place

Called home.

I am growing up now,

And the mantlepiece is a dustcatcher,

And a table is for dishes

And getting in the way of mops,

And the world is an infinite maze

Of people and places,

Ideas and faces,

Where bad is good,

And good is bad,

And I am neither.