Innocent Eyes

This is a poem I wrote several years ago (before this blog began). It was inspired by a photograph titled “Her Eyes are My Window” that a woman named Emma took of her three year old granddaughter. Today I saw a photograph of my niece Zoe on facebook that immediately reminded me of this poem, so I dug into my old files and found it for her. Now, rather than toss it back into the old poems heap, I've decided to post it here:

Innocent Eyes

Today I saw the world through innocent eyes.
The earth stood before me in a perfect disguise,
Without killing, destruction, corruption, or lies.
Yes I saw the world through innocent eyes.

The feeling came over me gentle and mild,
Through the eyes in a photo of a beautiful child.
I remembered a time, though brief now it seems,
When life was a series of fairy tail dreams.

Every story was new, and good always won.
Santa Clause lived, and each day was fun.
The sun always shined, except when it rained,
And that never mattered, tomorrow remained.

We measured our height on the edge of a door,
And we ran for miles on the living room floor.
We flew kites to the sky, and we told silly jokes.
We rode our bikes loudly with cards in our spokes.

It’s been a long time since I’ve thought of these things;
The many sweet memories this photograph brings,
And for the first time I see, they will never be gone.
They’re just memories that some other child will take on.

I look away from the picture, and into the haze,
And I hope I'll remember through my final days,
What the world can look like through innocent eyes,
Without killing, destruction, corruption, or lies.