Porcelain Marbles--Part 2/3:

It ran down the street
Down through my childhood neighborhood
Down the street where I once played
Past my neighbor's house who cared for me
When Daddy didn't, which was very often
It kept rolling as if it was begging me
to follow it down the aching memory lane
Beginning to give up, I slowed down
My body began to give in
due to my severe malnutrition and dehydration
I took several more steps
not knowing which one will cause me to faint,
But I continued not knowing why
each step was exciting and exasperating
Until one step caused my fall--
And I fell
I fell right onto the green grass of the yard
The grass that was stained with my childhood memories
Slowly turning my head, I caught sight of my home
Multiple childhood scenes played out at one time in black and white
I saw the porch twenty-two years ago
My mother and father swinging to and fro
On the hammock on the porch
My mother bubbling with happiness
As my father rubbed her swelled stomach
I saw the driveway twenty-two years ago
My parents pulled up in a black Volkswagen
My father ran to my mother's car door
And helped her out of the car carefully
Her hands were full with me--her joy
Together they walked through home's door
I saw the steps seventeen years ago
A little girl with bouncy golden curls
Jumping off of them from her father, laughing
Her mother sitting on the porch smiling
I saw the grass fifteen years ago
A small girl in a vibrant floral summer dress
Tossing the porcelain marbles
One fell from her sight and sent her crying
Crying into her parents' arms
She pulled them to the front yard and pointed
She pointed to the green grass
Where her beloved marble was lost
The parents searched and searched
My father came over to where I collapsed
He looked directly into my wise eyes
And he smiled--
He smiled a smile that had love written all over it
Then he reached down and I reached up
His transparent arm went straight through mine
He stood back up tall as can be
With the porcelain marble in hand
He looked over to seven year-old me
And she ran towards him and him to her
And they hugged and she smiled.
They began walking back to the house
Little me and my mom walked through the door
But my dad, looked back at me--lying there
In the old wild grass
He looked straight into my glistening eyes
And smiled.
All scenes disappeared as my father entered the house
I looked up into the bright English sky and smiled.
I could have lied there forever if a sharp pain hadn't struck me in the shoulder
But it did.
And when it did, I rolled over off my back
To find my green porcelain marble
I picked it up and kissed it--so happy to have it.
Then an odd sight caught my eye.