The Forest

I remember when the woods behind my house was a forest.
When it was full of adventure and imagination.
When I was Alice in the Wonderland.
When the trees were skyscrapers.
When climbing them was perilous, going a mile high.
I remember when it was a journey into the wilderness.
When I couldn't see my house from a few feet in.
When I was an explorer, like a young, female Christopher Columbus.
I remember when my brother and I were Lewis and Clark,
And our dog was our Sacagawea.

But now, it's just a cluster of trees.
It's full of nothing but insects and poison ivy.
The trees are short and dry and dying,
And some of them are just gone altogether.

It's amazing what a young, imaginative mind can perceive things to be.