One brief moment was all it took,
Unburdened abandon in this brown boy’s look.
He and his friend crossing the road,
First left then right and over they go.
A skip in their step on this Friday afternoon,
They wear baggy t-shirts both shades of blue.
But my stare stays fixed on the boy to the right,
The sun in his eyes a measure too bright
But he won’t bat an eye, no, he won’t look away
‘Cos the world has no hold on him this glorious day.
Then a spark, brief and pure and connected
To some memory the world’s since tested.
A recollection of a boyhood hope,
Before the knots, before the rope.
And just like a spark that sears behind the eyes
This briefest moment lingers and I’m made to realise
That I once was this boy, young, sun-drenched and free
But I lost my way to the weight of all that’s unseen.