A little girl stopped me today By that old wooden playground the one where the planks are falling from their swings and the green slide is all out of place
She grabs my hand "Who am I?" she asks Searching my face desperately for an answer She has ringlet curls and holds a ***** tan teddy bear under her arm Yes, who have you become "We could play" the girl weasels, pulling on my arm pointing toward the crumbling playground I can only shake my head no
"Don't forget about me, okay?" she sighs "I want to be a doctor when I grow up, I want a pet bunny and I want to eat ice cream for breakfast on all of my birthdays" Her eyes are starry with dreams, she runs beyond the playground to chase a comet
I stare at the boards on the ground, and I see not the plank of a pirate ship, but a broken swing I run behind the girl Frantically trying to gather up all of the dreams she dropped in her hurry They slip through my fingers and get harder to see
I find myself repeating the girl's advice to myself "Don't forget about me" *Don't forget about me