A treasury of childhood memories
Forgotten in a pinewood box
Discovered on a rainy Sunday
Turn the key and time unlocks
~
My books, my old friends, lay before me
Restored once more to a loving hand
For cross-legged hours I turn the pages
Lost in a paper wonderland
~
The pirate ship her black flag flying
Stormy skies and salty rain
Trade winds fill the straining mainsails
A small boy sails the Spanish Main
~
Take me back to Smoky London
Baker Street buildings grimed with soot
Top hat Holmes, his coat tails flying
“Come Watson, hurry, the games afoot”
~
Plumed knights astride snow white horses
****** maidens with downcast eyes
Pooh sticks float on sleepy rivers
Under England’s smiling skies
~
Once again I tunnel the covers
Clandestine reading on a winter’s night
Sylvia Daisy Pouncer whispers
‘The wolves are running’ in the pale torchlight.