When I ran Away

That hot night 

how the crickets crooned

and I felt dizzy to their tune

I ran away out my window

following the moon

through the blue cornfield

I followed the sound of the creek on the other side of the field

where the wood nymphs hid inside of their tree cocoon 

I walked on the stone path across the creek 

that hummed of a leak

that led to where the great king baboon 

lived and how he would give

his golden apples to the one

who would give him a kiss

and grant you a wish

And up the hill I pulled myself up by the tree roots

careful not to touch the hands

from the men's bodies who had been killed here in battle long ago

ghosts that wooed through the night like owls

I shuddered and skipped

There was the tree house, with my lantern and the moon

I made my way through the sequin leaves brushing passed me

and I made my way up up

to Repunzel who I would save

then she would save me

I slept on her hair that night in my tree

and later stole a Lemon Cake from the outside of the kitchen window 

that Gramma had made

later

the hot air begin to seep inside of me and I felt hot and sticky

like the cake

I swam in the creek

with the Water Ladies

who smelled of the sea

and I told them about me

They clicked and sang

about the days that had been done

and vanished before my heart

and it would become dark and the lightning bugs

would  come out at the start 

of periwinkle colors in the hollows

and twinkling Stars shooting

from the mouths of the hills that come after the fields

where lions come out at night

and try to eat the stars 

so that they can stay golden and yellow

like the moonlight

and lamp lights in the trees

like an old movie

and being little and  how

I had a secret land

of Cupcakes and Cherries

Asleep I fell

When I Ran Away