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 )

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