A Blue-tailed Lizard
She was a joyful child once
Curious, easily delighted
Choosing the king and queen of the roses
Walking the ditch-banks and eating wild currants
Making whistles from reeds
Playing jacks, pick-up sticks, hide ‘n seek
Catching blue-tailed lizards and horny toads
Making them homes in shoe-boxes
And after an hour or a day
Releasing them back to the mesa
So much forgotten
Tamed, shamed
Put in a box
Much like the blue-tailed lizard
She remembers that child with the silky hair
Unfettered, uninhibited, unsilenced
Could she call her back?
Go deep inside
Quietly
To hear the squeals and laughter
Giggles and wiggles
Way too much wiggling
Way too much giggling
The tamers told her
But beneath it all
She wiggles and giggles even yet
When she forgets to be proper
When she’s bravely defenseless
Forgetfully defenseless
She can go there once more
and hold the blue-tailed lizard gently in her hand
and then release them both
she
and the blue-tailed lizard
