my darling boy

oh ... have you seen my darling boy blond hair, like corn silk, falling? lost, his sparkling absinthe eyes but still, my heart keeps calling I thought I saw him run away with a young girl, hand-in-hand swallowed by the ocean mist their footprints in the sand oh, have you seen my darling boy with a smile broad and bright? seems he went a-wandering in a full moon, late one night while captured by his fancies he's inclined to court a whim so counting evening fireflies would be grave concern for him oh, have you seen my darling boy with dreams and hopes anew? he holds the mind to conquer a kingdom, grand ... or two and yet he'd rather spin you tall tales that make you smile wise anecdotes, adventurous to charm you and beguile oh, have you seen my darling boy replete with loves and life? he's apt to wink or tease you suffused with virtue, rife he's endeared to melancholy yet he masks it with a laugh his child's heart aches for others but breaks on their behalf oh, have you seen my darling boy? he sings an impassioned tune of swirling maelstroms, seas of suns and the faces of the moon he's oft' to feign a scoundrel though he's chivalrous and kind and loves to search a sunken heart for the treasure he may find oh, have you seen my darling boy? no - I doubt you ever will as I call to him across the years but the air is hushed and still so, tho' I've chased him, wide and far I'm quite sure I'll never see his corn silk hair and absinthe eyes for that darling boy ... was me. ( for the “Growing Up” Poetry Contest, Robert James Liguori, judge and sponsor )