fountain of youth

childhood lost--where then innocence?--
i misunderstand the clouds--where, then
is innocence? knowing these trees
vacant with animation of birds,
would their roots know
my heart in the soil?
gnarled bark and escaped leaf,
my hands forget, deaf
to touch.

dandelion! freely breeze dreams lifted,
i sleep in starlight oblivion.

remember the rhody, the honeysuckle,
estuary of boyhood. i outgrow these shoes,
shadows of footsteps long
in the distance.

where then innocence? pennies for the fountain,
fountain of youth,
scattered among the shells.