The speaker addresses a mother and asks where her son has gone. Each stanza gives him a new label: the funny one, the boy she doted on, the wild child, the baby. Each one asks where he ended up. Is he hollering somewhere on the moon, or under the sun? Is he one of the flowers? Did he settle down, or sit and sing and dance in a ring?
The poem never says who is speaking or who the mother is, so it's open to more than one reading. The speaker could be the son himself, looking back at who he used to be, or someone grieving and wondering where he has gone. The flower line and the final, lonely "Somewhere?" suggest loss, though the poem doesn't spell it out.
The mood is tender and a little wistful. The playful rhythm and rhymes feel like a nursery song, but the repeated questions go unanswered, and that leaves an ache beneath the lightness.