Where Are We?

We took turns led each other with words, a hand on elbow or shoulder

Across wide yards, up stone stairs, down brick passageways, onto nearby streets, into safe alleys and stopped — where are you?

We learned to map without our eyes, see worlds in our minds, draw our own compass—arrow and rose

We were like pigeons homing

We were so often right

We knew how to slow time, a special trick of children

This way we played gave us our sure sense of north, (about which we boast), of where roads point, of coast — before sniffing salty air

A simple game by outdoor children, meeting on the street

Children with nothing to do

We took turns, a special trick of children